Cosmic Love
by Glitter Poisoned My Blood
Summary: Serenity Queen is not a normal agent, and neither is Grant Ward. In fact, nothing at S.H.I.E.L.D. is normal, and after Agents Queen and Aino are called in for their expertise on alien objects to find the Beserker Staff, things get even weirder. Otherwise summarized, "In which Grant Ward changes sides for love." Serenity x Ward, Mina x Steve Rogers, AU. Spoilers for Winter Solider.
1. Salvation

Hello, everyone! I know that I have other stories that are in the works (and they will get updated, I promise!) however, this story is fully complete - as in I wrote the entire thing before posting the first chapter! There are some changes that need to be made to the last quarter of the story but I should have the story complete on Fanfiction before I leave for Australia on July 1st. I'm super excited about this story because I've never written a story from start to finish before posting! I've only ever been one or two chapters ahead of posting schedule. Big thanks to my best friend who uploaded the document for me because my computer was not feeling uploading chapters over 4,000 words. Is anyone else having this problem?

This story was inspired by watching Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and being generally obsessed with Marvel Cinematic Universe. So, I have posted this story under Sailor Moon x Avengers because there are no stories under Sailor Moon x AOS and I didn't want to go through the trouble. This story contains **SPOILERS** for Episode 7 forward for AOS as well as Captain American: Winter Soldier and both Avengers movies. The Age of Ultron spoilers should not start until the end of the story. This story will be rated M after Act 1!

Lastly, I do not own AOS, Sailor Moon or anything affiliated with these things. If you recognize it, it does not belong to me.

Without further ado: "In Which Agent Grant Douglas Ward Changes Sides For Love"

* * *

 **Act 1.**

* * *

 **May 2012**

He first saw her when he was called in to handle the New York Incident. A beautiful warrior with long, silver hair stepped from the top of a thirty-story building, landing gracefully on the ground came between a group of children and a particularly vicious Chitauri that he had been trying to defend them from.

"You'll not touch them, vermin," she spat. Her hands were at her hips, and she seemed to radiate a powerful, warm, glow. The alien gaped at her, almost mesmerized. Or maybe it was in terror. Grant didn't know.

"Get out of here, lady, you'll only get hurt," he yelled, firing off three more well aimed shots.

Before he could blink all ten of the nearby Chitauri were incapacitated, on the ground, motionless. She turned back towards him, without emotion and then darted towards Agent Romanov, a blonde woman and Captain America. He watched as she and the one with the bow darted away at an inhuman speed and climbed expertly up the side of a building.

He fancied himself impressed.

* * *

 **July 2013**

The second time he met her she took him by surprise. She looked familiar, like he had seen her before, as she stepped into the elevator diplomatically along with a woman with long white blonde hair trailing behind her. Her suit was all white, with a pale rose blouse beneath, an odd color choice for someone who worked for S.H.I.E.L.D. White was not stealthy, and it was not inconspicuous. But no matter that, the white suited her immensely. She settled next to him in the back of the elevator silent with her friend.

He watched as Agent Sitwell the baldheaded one with glasses, greeted her and gave her a sickening smile. Garrett might have been a good man, but Sitwell reminded Ward of the type of guy who kicked children on the roadside.

"Agent Queen, Agent Aino."

"Agent Sitwell," she greeted back. "How is your wife?" she asked in a lilting accent.

Sitwell's smile widened, "As good as she always is, Agent Queen."

He tried not to stare but it was difficult. She was _so_ beautiful that it was almost hard to look at her. Her hair looked as though it was spun from fine silk. Her skin was porcelain, with rosy cheeks and full, blood red lips. Her lashes were thick and long. She had a small frame, he surmised, she was about six feet tall but willowy and thin by his approximation. She cleared her throat lightly.

He hadn't been as good at keeping his looks as secret as he thought.

 _Agent Queen._

* * *

 **November 2013**

The third time they crossed paths was at The Hub. Victoria Hand was a stern woman, one who was beautiful, but cold, similar to Agent Melinda May. Hand was standing in the Command Center, barking orders as they readied for their mission to South Ossetia.

"So there's no extraction plan?" Ward asked. Hand had told him personally, and hadn't told the male of the science twins. Clearly, she didn't think he would be able to deal with the pressure of possible annihilation after the mission.

"Not exactly."

Ward raised an eyebrow.

"We have two agents stationed in South Ossetia already, deep undercover in case something like this happened. They are your extraction plan."

Ward narrowed his eyes, "Really?" he asked skeptically, "There could be hundreds of enemies in that compound, and you're telling me to trust the extraction of myself and my squint to two undercover agents?"

Hand gave him a hard look, "I'm telling you that they are your extraction plan, and they won't fail, so you had better not fail either"

"Well, who is it? Barton? Romanov?" asked Ward sarcastically. Two agents? This must have been why Garrett hated Hand so much. He had been looking for a reason to put a bullet in her brain for years. Right now he certainly couldn't blame his S.O.

Hand sighed before throwing two files at him and crossing her arms, "Show some respect, and maybe I won't shoot you for you insubordination next time."

Ward looked down at the papers in his hand.

CLASSIFIED they read in large red letters. Half of the information was redacted, but some was still legible.

Queen, Serenity. Aino, Mina.

His interest was peaked, but his annoyance was too. Hand was entrusting their extraction to two girls? They didn't look old enough to have even graduated from The Academy!

Name: Aino, Mina.

Height: 5"10'

Weight: 114 lbs

Hair Color: Blonde

Eye Color: Blue

Birth Date: 22 October 1992

Birth Place: London, England.

Level: 9 Classified

It went on to talk about the strained relationship with her parents, her stellar physical record, and her great ability with languages. But also talked about her less than superior school grades (okay, but not excellent), but her excellent ability for kinesthetic memorization and her ability to solve logic problems on her exams. She'd been educated at Wycombe Abbey School for Young Ladies until she had moved to Japan. She'd been the number one volleyball player in Japan at the High School level, and had apparently declined a position on the Olympic team when she was fifteen. While she had been born in London, it looked like she had spent only two years in Japan. He frowned. She didn't really look Asian. She had never attended S.H.I.E.L.D. academy. She'd gone on to graduate from Dartmouth's music and theater program with honors and had been a member of Delta Gamma. He put down the file and opened the one he really wanted to see.

Name: Queen, Serenity

Height: 5"9'

Weight: 103 lbs

Hair Color: Blonde

Eye Color: Grey

Birth Date: 30 June 1993

Birth Place: Johannesburg, South Africa

Level: 9 Classified

It seemed that Agent Queen was an asset to S.H.I.E.L.D. She had been born in South Africa but had only lived there until she was 14, then moved to the Juuban district of Tokyo, Japan. Before that she had attended an undisclosed boarding school in Switzerland before a public school in Japan. _So they attended school together._ She hadn't excelled in school for most of her life until she had reached high school. She was good at sports, particularly track, field hockey and gymnastics. Her entire family had died in a fire when she was sixteen, which had apparently destroyed half of her district of Tokyo, after which she moved in with the Mizuno family. She'd been engaged, until the guy suddenly disappeared, presumed dead. She'd graduated from Dartmouth the same year as her friend from the Political Science and History program with honors. She'd also been a member of Delta Gamma. It seemed like the two girls did nearly everything together, something he found suspicious. There was nothing particularly special about her. So why was she his extraction plan?

Ward stroked his chin. He was curious. And Garrett probably would be too. He needed to call his former S.O.

* * *

When she and the other one had come in to extract he and Fitz, he had been as close to amazed as he had ever been. She and the Aino girl had cleared the floor in under three and a half minutes, something he wasn't even sure Romanov would have been able to do. She was in a white body suit, guns in both hands, guns strapped to both legs, and had her hair (which he had noticed usually was tied back into two balls with streamers nearly as long as her) pulled back into an extremely neat, long, tight braid. She'd seemed to have dropped from a metal bar on the ceiling and took to the ground calmly incapacitating anyone who got in her way. The Aino girl had followed behind her, with her back pressed to agent Queen's. They worked together beautifully. They were clearly partners.

"That was awesome!" the Scottish engineer exclaimed in awe.

The blonde with the red bow shrugged, "Anything a man can do, we can do better. In Heels. Backwards. Ginger Rogers said that."

"Can we catch a ride?" Queen asked as she jumped nearly five feet in the air and pulled Fitz up onto the bus. "Looks like we won't be heading back to this joint anytime soon."

"Too bad," said the other girl, "Boris was quite attractive."

"You're in a relationship, you sloot," said Queen, "What would Steve say?"

"I can look at the menu without touching," exclaimed Aino, "And boy am I looking."

The silver haired one sighed and put her hands on the girl's shoulder, "That's 'look at the menu without ordering', V-babe. You're killing me with your manglement of the English language."

"Who is she?" Skye whispered to Fitz.

"That's classified," said FitzSimmons.

"We don't really even know," said Jemma.

"How can a person be classified?" Skye said in annoyance.

They both shrugged.

"My name is Mina Aino, by the way," said the one with the big red bow. "I'm level 8."

"I'm Serenity Queen," said the other one, "Also level 8."

"Is it nice being level 8?" Skye asked sarcastically.

"Very," smirked Queen.

"Anyone trying to go out tonight?" the one with the bow called, "There's this club in London – Boujis."

Fitz gaped, "We can't get in there!"

Simmons nodded fervently, "No one gets into Boujis."

"You know clubs?" asked Skye in disbelief then added in surprise, "You two are old enough to drink?"

Fitz gave an offended look, "I'm Scottish!" he shouted, as if that explained everything.

"So is that a yes?"

"I get into Boujis," said Aino solidly.

"I could blow off some steam," agreed the silver haired one.

"Remember what happened the last time you blew off steam?" teased Agent Aino.

"Whoa," said Agent Queen, "Let's not discuss that."

"No," smiled Skye, "Let's."

"Have you ever heard of Sorority Crush? S brought the whole SigEp pledge class as dates."

"Stop!" exclaimed Agent Queen, putting her hand over Agent Aino's mouth.

"We should do shots tonight," said Fitz briskly.

Simmons groaned and covered her eyes while Skye gave a shocked look, "You do _shots_?"

"I'm Scottish!"

"Whiskey!" cheered Agent Aino.

"Whiskey!" agreed Fitz.

"Ugh," groaned Agent Queen.

A few hours later, they walked to the front of the line at Boujis, much to the annoyance of the line, where people cried out in anger. May and Coulson had decided to stay in, but the rest decided to dress up. Jemma was covering her sides uncomfortably. Aino had lent her a very small and very revealing dress.

"Miss Queen," said the bouncer happily, "I heard you were coming. Come on in. Any friend of the boss is a friend of mine!"

Agent Queen smiled and she and Agent Aino danced in and straight to the bar.

"Who wants a shot?" cheered Agent Aino.

"I'll take one, Aino!" said Skye as she opened her wallet.

"It's on the house!" yelled Agent Queen over the bass, "We drink free. And call us Mina and Serenity."

"Who's ready to get fucked up?" screamed Mina as she thrust shots into everyone's hands.

Ward gave her a look of annoyance. "What is this?"

Mina knocked it back and cheered, "It's fucking whiskey. We don't drink pussy shit!"

Ward looked skeptical, but Serenity and Mina cheered and clinked their glasses together.

"Take a shot!" Mina screamed.

"Take a shot!" Serenity screamed.

"Take a goddamn shot!" they yelled together, "Take a shot like only an DG can! If you can't take a shot like a DG can, then get that shot out of your mother-fucking hand!" They both downed them and then raised the second set of glasses and downed them. Both girls cheered.

"You're going to end up on your ass by the end of the night," said Jemma, "drunk, vomiting, possibly dead."

"I'll take a Long Island Iced Tea, and six shots of Fireball."

"I don't like Fireball," said Skye.

"Ha!" barked Serenity, "Those are for me, and I am not sharing."

Suddenly she perked up, "Oh my god! I love this song. Dance with me!" she and Mina grabbed Skye and Simmons and dragged them to the dance floor.

"Wait, I like this song too," yelled Skye over the heavy bass as Serenity and Mina went between taking shots and dancing wildly.

About forty-five minutes later, the members of Coulson's team were watching mesmerized as Serenity and Mina danced, and had coherent conversation with others.

"How many drinks has she had?" asked Skye.

"Er – about ten, by my approximation," said Simmons.

"Bloody hell!" cursed Fitz, "I can't even do that!"

"Maybe it will all catch up to her in like fifteen minutes," suggested Skye.

"Nope," disagreed Ward as they watched her trapeze back to the bar and walk back with a whole bottle of tequila.

"She wouldn't," gaped Jemma.

"She damn well shouldn't," said Ward in annoyance.

"I have to see this," laughed Skye as she ambled over. "Are you going to share that?" she asked with a laugh.

Serenity gave her a look, "Possibly." Then she lifted the bottle and let the liquor fall straight into her open mouth. Around her, people started cheering as she kept gulping.

"Are you human?" asked Skye seriously.

"I went raving in college," yelled Serenity, "This is _nothing_!"

Mina started laughing hysterically as the two girls danced, "We were so bad in college."

"Bad does not even begin to describe how we were in college."

"You wouldn't think it," began Mina, "But Dartmouth has a serious party scene."

"Yeah," Serenity agreed, "Everyone was so rich. There was so much alcohol – and drugs."

Ward rolled his eyes. Of course.

Skye's jaw dropped, "You did drugs? How do you even party at a school like Dartmouth?"

Serenity laughed, " _Everyone_ did drugs. Dartmouth is in New Hampshire – all you can do is drink and do drugs, study for exams and go to raves, so that's what we all did. And we were in the Greek System – we got away with so much shit - Mina once did a line of blow off a toilet seat before an exam and they let her get away with it."

"Shut up! You aren't supposed to tell people that! This bitch was strung out on molly and crashed a boat."

"Oh my god!" laughed Serenity, "You should have seen Victoria that night. She was a crazy bitch for real!"

"Victoria?" asked Ward curiously.

"Hand," Serenity clarified, "She's my big. She was blacklisted from a frat for stealing the president's Range Rover and crashing it into the side of the frat house."

"She couldn't handle her liquor," agreed Mina, "Great at raves though."

Skye and Fitz looked impressed. Ward looked annoyingly stern, as usual.

They left the club at around three in the morning. Jemma was tipsy, Ward was nearing sober (someone had to be responsible), and Skye and Fitz were near to dead as they fell into a cab. Serenity and Mina seemed to be fine, but no one could be sure.

"How do you do it?" slurred Skye as she vomited into the toilet. "This sucks."

"Ha!" Mina laughed, "We're too srat to care!" She cheered and lifted the bottle again to take another shot.

Ward gave a look of disgust, "You're not going to wake up in the morning."

"I will be totally fine," disagreed Mina. "Is there tomato juice in the fridge?"

Fitz and Skye woke at around 1 in the afternoon that day.

"Wakey wakey," she sang quietly next to Fitz.

"Stop shouting," he moaned miserably.

Mina sat there with bloody marys. "Hair of the dog that bit you," she said as she passed them the drinks. "Trust me, it helps."

They left that morning leaving Fitz, Jemma and Skye with new friends and Ward with suspicions.

* * *

 **November 2013**

The next time he met her was in London. She had been called to investigate the Beserker staff, and help the team locate its whereabouts. Apparently she was very good at locating alien objects. He didn't quite understand what Coulson had meant by that, but he went along with it. She walked in, white cigarette pants, and white blazer, eyes full of conviction, followed by the blonde who always seemed to have a big, red bow in her hair, and two cats.

Skye crinkled her nose at FitzSimmons' sudden excitement to see a their new friends again and the less apathetic look from May. Ward looked like his normal robotic self.

Phil smiled softly when she took a dainty step onto the bus. "Your Hi-"

She gave him a sharp look, "Phil. We're friends aren't we? I've told you a million and one times to call me Serenity."

Phil smiled a little wider, "Of course. Serenity, Mina; it's good to see you. We need your help."

"I heard," Mina said, "that the pieces of the Beserker staff have been found."

The black cat jumped onto the hood of the black SUV and stretched. "It's a shame –really. I thought they were hidden quite well."

Simmons gaped at the cat.

"That cat," Fitz said.

"It talked!" Simmons said.

"Where's-"

"Sleepy!"

The two ran off to the lab behind them.

Mina cocked her head to the side. "Are they always so….?"

Skye snorted, "And worse, even."

"Let's jump the bandwagon," said Mina as she got ready to climb the stairs.

Serenity sighed, "That's ready to roll, V-babe."

Mina shrugged and followed May up the stairs.

"So have you ever cut your hair?" asked Skye as she followed Serenity up the stairs, "Cause you'd make Locks of Love pretty happy."

"So tell me about the information you have so far," Serenity said in the direction of the group, "But first – do you have any food?"

* * *

"So which one is it?" asked Mina

"The tall one," Serenity responded near silently as the two sat in the cargo hold.

"He's handsome."

"Yeah," agreed Serenity, "He's very handsome. But he's cold. We've met several times now and though I can feel him looking at me, he never says anything."

"Maybe he's intimidated," Mina said, "You're very beautiful and he might be a bit nervous."

Serenity narrowed her eyes in thought. She had considered that of course but had written it away quickly because Ward seemed to be good at schooling his features.

"How strong is the sliver?"

"Very strong," said Serenity. "It's taken him over almost completely. Any later than this, and we would have come in contact with some very real and very serious issues."

"At the end then?" questioned Mina as the two stood.

"At the end," Serenity agreed.

* * *

Queen and Aino cracked their knuckles. Agent Ward had taken down a few of the men, but now there was a whole gang of them storming into the church. Queen rolled her neck and back before fist bumping Agent Aino.

"Break," she said. The two girls jumped inhumanly fast to either sides of the pews. Queen jumped into the air, pushing her weight onto the overhead rectory and then finally landing behind the growing group.

"Surprise boys," said Aino, as she punched the first man straight in the eyes. Queen blocked a punch, ducked, rolled, and then stuck her leg out to trip one man, using his weight to grab his collar and then fling him over her head and straight into two other men. She then, without looking shot another man in the leg, ducked and blocked a punch before grabbing a tapestry and using it as a counterbalance to land on another one of the men.

Aino was wielding the golden chain that Ward had seen her using in South Ossetia liberally. She flung it around a man's waist, yanked and flew him into a stone wall before pulling the chain off of him and wrapping it around a beam in the ceiling and jumping up to kick a man straight in the head. She jumped off, landing in a perfect crouch to duck a man's attack. She tripped him, jabbed him in the eyes, and then slammed his head straight into the wall.

In less then thirty seconds, all fifteen of the men that had stormed in were completely unable to attack again. As they stood over the incapacitated young people Agent Queen sighed deeply.

Agent Aino sighed, "That wasn't as fun as I thought it would be. I still have stress tension in my back."

Both Aino and Queen snapped their necks towards each other.

"Does this mean…?" asked Queen.

"It sure the fuck does," replied Aino.

"Thirty second dance party!" the two cheered simultaneously.

Queen whipped out her phone. "Which-" began Queen.

"Duh," said Aino.

"Of course," agreed Queen as she pressed play on her iPhone.

Jemma and Skye looked at the two girls in confusion.

"What are you-"

"Where do you go with your broken heart in tow?" sang Queen.

"What do you do with the left over you?"

"How do you know when to let go?"

"Look me in the eye and tell me you don't find me attractive!" sang Aino as the two jumped around the church, throwing their hands in the air and shaking their bodies while bobbing their heads.

Fitz furrowed his brows.

"Where does the good go?" asked Aino.

"Where does the good go?" asked Queen.

Then they both abruptly stopped dancing, high fived, straightened their tops and then turned towards the team.

"What in God's name were you doing?" asked Phil.

Queen shrugged, "Thirty second dance party," she answered as they put cuffs on all of the perpetrators.

"It's a tradition we've had since we were younger. Any stress, or tension, or stupid boys – we dance it out," continued Aino.

"Or drink tequila," supplied Queen.

"Or drink tequila," agreed Aino.

"Thirty seconds of dance a day keeps the brain sane," Queen said.

Ward just glared.

* * *

They sat in the car silently on the way back from the mission. Mina had insisted on driving in the car with Coulson, May and Skye, claiming that she was getting romantic vibes from every angle. Serenity had rolled her eyes in annoyance and agreed to head to the hotel in a separate vehicle with Agent Grant Ward. He was driving. She was silent. He felt uncomfortable. There was something about her that made him uneasy. Was it her beauty? He had never had a response like this to a woman before. And weakness wasn't allowed. Something inside him flared but it was shoved down before he could even recognize what it was.

"You shouldn't be so angry."

Ward didn't move a muscle.

"I know you're frightened. You don't like the way the Beserker staff made you feel. And you're afraid to hold it again."

"I'm not afraid."

"You should be. You are full of anger, Agent Ward. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to chaos." They walked up the lift and onto the bus and were surrounded by emptiness. The rest had yet to return.

"You don't know anything about me," Grant said in annoyance.

"I know more than you think that I do," she continued with her eyes facing forward, "Grant Douglas Ward. Born in Wayland, Massachusetts. Brother of Christian Ward, Republican Senator of Massachusetts. S.H.I.E.L.D. specialist in combat and espionage trained under John Garrett." Serenity turned to him mechanically, "Sleeper Agent for HYDRA under the command of said John Garrett, alias The Clairvoyant."

Ward reacted quickly, leaping to incapacitate her in order to save his cover.

He never reached his target.

"Do you know why I took this mission, Agent Ward?" Serenity said as she held his throat in a chokehold. "I don't give a damn about the Beserker staff. Humans always burn out when they get their hands on it. It would have passed – but you… I knew about you the moment I met you in New York all those months ago. _I came for you_ ," she whispered in his ear.

Suddenly May and Coulson followed by Skye, and FitzSimmons were on the bus and staring at them with gaping mouths. Mina looked undeterred.

"Serenity, why are you trying to kill my Agent?" Coulson said with his hand on his weapon.

"Chaos," she spat, "a sliver of Chaos resides in this mortal."

"Mortal?" Skye asked in confusion, "I'm confused."

"What's a Chaos?" asked May.

Phil looked at Serenity in alarm, "But Ward is-"

Serenity threw him to the ground with a foot to his throat. He could barely breathe. And she was too heavy to throw. How could he be held down by a hundred-pound slip of a girl?

"Ward is HYDRA." Serenity said evenly.

"That's ridiculous-" began Skye.

"But none the less, it is true," said Mina, as she held a pen in her hand. "Venus Eternal Power!" Suddenly, in Mina's place was a woman with a short orange skirt and a golden belt with hearts. A chain appeared in her hands and wrapped Ward entirely. Ward gasped for air as the weight on his throat disappeared.

"You could have killed him!" yelled Simmons rushing over, only to be swiftly stopped by Mina.

Ward's eyes turned red and his voice became almost demonic as a violet spirit rose around him.

"Cosmic Moon Power!"

* * *

It all seemed to happen in a hurry. One second, Grant was nearly demonic with a violet colored form of evil curling around his form, and the next he was lying on the ground panting, and near death in exhaustion.

"I need an explanation of why I shouldn't shoot you between the eyes right now," May said dangerously with a gun cocked and pointed at his face.

Ward looked confused before the one they knew was Serenity stopped her. "Put him on a bed and start him on an IV and a banana bag. He needs rest and fluids. I can explain."

Once Ward was on the bed Serenity turned to them. He was asleep as soon as he hit the sheets.

"I'm sorry for the deception. I assume you know of me."

Fitz looked at her in wonder, "You're Sailor Cosmos. You helped in the New York incident."

"Sailor Mercury is the reason I joined S.H.I.E.L.D. officially!" Simmons cried excitedly. Then she relaxed, "But what about Ward?"

The one they now called Cosmos looked into the sleeping eyes of Agent Grant Ward. "He is a good man at heart, only mislead. What you all may not know is that eight years ago the world nearly ended."

Phil knew this story and stayed quiet.

"I am Cosmos, Queen of the Stars, Guardian of Light, Keeper of the Balance, Archduchess of the Holy Lunarian Empire, Crowned Princess of the Silver Millennium," she continued without inflection, "Ten years ago I came into my powers, a clumsy and unremarkable fourteen year old child. When I was sixteen-"

"You're only twenty-four?" asked Fitz.

"I am as old as the Universe itself." Cosmos responded, "When I was sixteen, I finally met Chaos, the one I had been unknowingly fighting against for my entire existence. Chaos is the ultimate evil. Whereas I am the purest form of Light, the strongest being of purity, innocence and good, Chaos, is pure Darkness, evil to the core. Chaos is my archenemy, although only because of the way that he goes about his actions. He hunts me, day and night trying to acquire my strength, and for that I do not necessarily blame him. Because you see, where there is light, there is darkness, and darkness will always crave the light. Chaos has possessed many to lure me in. Chaos wants to bring me pain. He kills my friends, my family… my lover. Because all he wants, all he has ever wanted, was me."

"What do you mean, wanted you?" asked Skye, "Like to kill you?"

Cosmos smiled sadly, "I wish he wanted to kill me. No – Chaos wants to own me, possess me, control me. He wants to tie me to him, and acquire the light. Just as he has wanted my mother, and her mother before her. He is obsessed with me."

"But what does this have to do with Ward?" asked Skye.

Simmons sighed, having already figured it out.

"I defeated Chaos when I was 16. I sacrificed my life in order to drive him back to The Galaxy Cauldron, where all life is born. While Chaos is defeated, and he is weak and has very little power, he managed to keep himself alive. For the last eight years I have been hunting down the missing pieces of Chaos that were already within human souls when he was defeated. Those pieces were not part of him when I defeated him. Thus they were not driven to the bottom of The Galaxy Cauldron. They lived on."

"So you're saying that Chaos lived inside of Ward?" May asked, making sure she had followed Cosmos correctly.

Serenity nodded. "Yes. Chaos was within Agent Ward, shaping his life for more than fifteen years." Serenity continued on, "Everything that Chaos knows, I know, in order to keep the balance. But everything I know, Chaos knows. Chaos knew of… my lover, Prince Endymion. He killed him. And since that day, he has successfully killed him over and over again."

"I say it now with great reluctance. Each being in this universe has a star seed, a life force that gives them their soul, makes their character, and makes them fall in love. Normal humans have normal star seeds. They have small shadows but are usually unlivable to Chaos, as they have high quantities of light. Humans by nature are creatures of light – of happiness. Chaos can only possess people that have equal amounts of both darkness and light, or almost all darkness. He prefers to take control of those who have almost no light in their star seeds, because it gives him more control. As the purest form of light, he cannot possess me at all. I have no darkness within my star seed. That is why he wants me so desperately – I am the only thing he cannot have. It drives him to near insanity. In order to make me feel the pain he has been feeling for millions of years he hunts down Potentials."

Even FitzSimmons looked confused.

Cosmos looked at Agent Ward, who was still fast asleep.

"He's a Potential, isn't he?" asked May.

"He is _the_ Potential," corrected Cosmos, "He is the last one. The only one left." Sensing questions were about to be asked she continued swiftly, "Rebirth is real, but different than you expect. There is a constant amount of star seeds. When a person dies, their star seed returns to The Galaxy Cauldron at Sagittarius Zero Star for cleansing in order to go into another being. Anything – Chitauri, Mauin, Lunarian – Human, or even a plant. This cycle repeats infinitely and constantly.

However, there are some star seeds that are different than others. The Scouts, and many others across the universe have different star seeds than normal humans. They come with powers, the ability to wield divine weapons meant to defend against Chaos. We are Sailor Soldiers, the guardians that stand between Chaos and life itself. There are many of us. Each planet in this solar system has a guardian."

"The Sailor Scouts right?" asked Skye, "All female, short skirts, pretty kick ass?"

Sailor Venus smiled, "That's right. V-babe here!"

"Yes. But Earth does not have a Sailor Scout. Instead of a Planetary power, the Earth was gifted the Golden Crystal, a powerful star seed that gave the one who wielded it complete control of the Earth. Thousands of years ago, this crystal, like all others of its kind, was hereditarily passed on from father to son. That is why there is no Sailor Scout. This crystal could only be controlled by a man in line for the Throne of Earth with a pure heart. Those who are in-line for these divine star seeds are Potentials."

Cosmos quickly explained that a thousand years ago Earth had been united, and the destruction of the Silver Millennium before continuing.

"But what does this have to do with Ward and why I can't shoot him?" asked Phil impatiently.

"My lover…" Cosmos explained, "Prince Endymion, born as Mamoru Chiba, was the Prince of Earth. He was the holder of the Golden Crystal, and first in line to be King. Our love has been written in the stars since the beginning of time. But when I defeated Chaos, the Powers That Be, the ones who are above, who make the rules that I must follow, gave me a choice. They told me I could pick duty or love. My choice was that the Golden Crystal could stay within the man that I had loved for a thousand years and he would be brought back to life, but the Scouts would stay dead, or I could allow my Sailor Scouts to live and let my lover die, with the Golden Crystal going to a Potential."

Jemma started to tear up, "Oh my god," she gasped, "No!"

The tears welled up in Cosmos's eyes as she spoke again, her voice nearly cracking, "I am fated to choose duty over love. Mamoru told me – he," she paused to control the tears, "He told me to protect his planet by allowing the Scouts to live, to keep Chaos in The Galaxy Cauldron. He made my choice for me. And since then, Chaos has been hunting Potentials fiercely, ending their lives in the most gruesome ways possible. He has left their heads for me to find. He has left their blood strewn across my home. He leaves their mutilated bodies in places that he knows that I will find them. He promised to me, in blood, that he would kill every chance of happiness I had until he had broken me beyond repair. He hunts my scouts, and he hunts the Potentials. To this date he has killed every potential I have tried to save." She paused before elaborating, "Chaos has slaughtered six hundred and sixteen innocent men who did nothing but exist." She turned to Agent Ward, "Grant Douglas Ward is the last Potential holder of the Golden Crystal. As the last, he is the only. Thus he is now the King of Elysian, Prince of Earth and wielder of the Golden Crystal."

"But he's HYDRA!" exclaimed Fitz angrily.

"No," Cosmos disagreed, "Chaos took him. He burrowed into Ward's heart when he was young, and in a time of great anger and sadness, when his normally pure heart was weak, and took hold of his star seed, poisoning his mind from the inside out. It was strong enough to cloud his soul, to make him make decisions that he would normally not have made. His soul is pure. _He_ did not do the things he did. Chaos wanted to ruin everything for me. So he took the last of the Potentials for himself."

Phil looked at her with an open mouth and looked as though he was about to speak.

Cosmos explained Grant's childhood and then went on to explain Ward's role as a sleeper agent, and his unhealthy loyalty to Garrett enforced by the sliver of Chaos.

"So what you're saying is that Grant is actually the reincarnated version of your lover, he's a Prince, he was HYDRA only because he had a sliver of the ultimate evil inside of him, he's actually a good guy, but basically was brainwashed?" asked the half Chinese girl.

Cosmos smiled lightly, "Essentially yes."

"My head hurts," Skye complained.

Venus shrugged, "It can be a lot to handle."

At that moment, Ward awoke with a pained groan.

"On that note," Venus stated, "We should leave them to talk. Everyone out," she commanded with finality as she detransformed. Cosmos gave her a small smile as the group left to the upstairs of the bus. She quickly detransformed herself.

"Serenity," whispered Grant.

"Agent Ward."

"Grant," he corrected, as he took her hand into his. "You of anyone have the right to call me Grant."

Serenity sighed at the instant pleasure of his touch. "Do you feel that?"

"Yes. But I didn't feel it earlier," he admitted.

"Because of Chaos," Serenity whispered, tears falling from her eyes. "I'm so sorry. This is all my fault. Your life has been terrible, and it's all because of me. He only went after you because of me. And now your life will never be the same again."

They were both silent for a few minutes before Grant spoke, "When I was asleep I dreamed about you, about us. About how we loved each other before."

Serenity was openly crying now, "Please don't. I can't handle to have this said to me."

Ward was looking at her as though he had seen the secrets of the stars in her eyes. "I have never felt this feeling before."  
"No!" whispered Serenity.

"It's love. I know it."

She shook her head in denial.

"It is. I will never have a complete life without you in it. Wherever you go, I will go with you. I will follow you. I promise you this now, as I breathe. You are my soul mate."

"No!" cried Serenity, "He will kill you. He'll kill you just like he's killed you a hundred times before. He wants me and he will kill you to get it."

"No," disagreed Grant.

"He will!" insisted Serenity.

"You're afraid," Grant said, using Serenity's earlier words against her.

"I'm not afraid!" she whispered.

"You are afraid that you'll be alone again. But I'll never leave you. Never," he said with conviction, "you are my reason for being. I have always known it. Since I was a child I have dreamed of you, dreamed of your hair," he whispered, as he pulled her onto the bed, "and your skin and your beautiful eyes," he said as he brushed her bangs from her forehead, "and how happy you made me, even if I didn't understand the dreams. I would wake up happy, so elated I could barely breathe. I've half loved you for half my life. I choose you, Serenity. I am yours, forever."

And then he leaned in and kissed her on the lips. It was sweet, but passionate and filled with the love that she hadn't felt in five years.

They fell asleep looking into each other's eyes.

* * *

So, what did you think? Let me know below. I love hearing from you guys because I feel like it improves my writing. When I first joined Fanfiction I had no clue what I was doing but now I feel like a village elder. On another note, how is everyone enjoying their summer? Let me know! I will post the next chapter very soon! Love you all!


	2. Prayer in C

Hello again! I hope everyone enjoyed the first chapter. There is an M rated scene in this chapter. Please read it and enjoy!

 **Act 2.**

* * *

 **November 2013**

"Is being a princess hard, or nah?" asked Skye, "When I was six I wanted to marry Prince William."

"Really?" asked Jemma pleasantly as she sipped her Earl Grey, "I always had a crush on Prince Harry."

"He's a little creepy," replied Mina, "Gingers freak me out. And the Nazi thing was scary."

Serenity rolled her eyes, "It's not really that much different than anything else."

"Except that you have a vault full of solid gold currency," pointed out Mina.

"And besides when you wear those flannels and white jeans, I've never seen you wear anything but Chanel," continued Skye.

"And those diamond earrings you wear everyday have to be worth at least ten grand," added Jemma, "Not to mention the matching tennis bracelet, necklace and watch you wear."

Serenity rolled her eyes, "Okay. It comes with some perks. Yes, I have a lot of money. But I didn't work for barely any of it, so I really don't consider it mine. I try to give philanthropically to orphanage funds for people that aren't as well off as me."

"Especially Service For Sight," Mina added, "That's our sorority's philanthropy. Our senior year, our chapter raised two hundred thousand dollars for Service For Sight."

Skye raised a brow, "That's right. You did say you were in Greek Life. What sorority?"

Serenity sighed, "I know it sounds weird and you're wondering why I would do something like that. Well, it was just Mina and I and we were in a new strange place and neither of us had families to go home to. So we rushed. I'm glad I did it. Obviously you know Victoria Hand is my big. She recruited me and Mina for S.H.I.E.L.D."

"I don't have a family either," Skye said, trying to open up to the newest members of the team. "I grew up in an orphanage."

Mina paused, "I have parents. But my family and I don't talk. My mom is a grade A bitch. I moved out as soon as I could. They were trailer park, white trash is what you call it here. And I needed to get away and make myself a life. So I pulled a runner when I was sixteen and moved in with our friend Lita."

Serenity felt compelled to share, "My family and I got along very well. But both my parents and my little brother died when I was 16. The records say it was a fire that destroyed our whole district. But it was actually Chaos. He killed my whole family."

The girls went quiet for a moment before Jemma began, "I'm scared. My parents and I are very close. But I'm afraid that if I tell them that I joined S.H.I.E.L.D. that they will worry for me or be targets. So I didn't tell them. But I'm a terrible liar and I keep ignoring their calls and – God." Jemma covered her face, "Fitz keeps telling me to talk to them but I'm afraid they won't forgive me for lying to them. I told them I was doing research!"

"Your parents love you, Simmons," Skye replied, "Try to tell them. You don't know what kind of reaction they will have. They might be supportive. You're a genius, Simmons. They'll be proud."

Mina smiled, "You have a family that loves you. You don't want to lose that, really. You don't know how lucky you are that they care about you."

Simmons sighed deeply, "That's the thing. I know they would be proud of me – I just… I'm afraid I've put my family in danger. I have four younger sisters, and none of them have really even begun to live yet. I feel selfish."

Serenity smiled, "I know what you mean. I've had a strange life. I'm not sure what you've heard but I was born in South Africa. As soon as I was old enough my family shipped me off to Le Rosey in Switzerland. Both of my parents came from wealthy families but aside from education they didn't live rich lives. They sent both me and my brother to Switzerland until my dad moved to Tokyo and Sammy and I decided to leave Le Rosey and go to a public school to experience something new. Then the fire happened and Juuban was leveled and the Mizunos took me in and I ended up at the Westminster school with Mina and Ami. I didn't have a time when I was with my family for a long time, and it stunk. It was awful and… I regret it deeply."

Jemma went quiet. "I hadn't thought of it that way."

Skye frowned and then opened her mouth, "I've been dreaming of my parents forever. Every day I want to know more about them and why I was left at the orphanage. But now I'm scared. There was a reason they didn't want me. And- I don't know if I want to know that reason. I don't know."

They sat quietly when finally Mina spoke, "Have you guys ever been raving?"

* * *

"Please be careful," begged Fitz as Simmons took a deep breath.

"Who's ready to get Star Spangled Hammered?" yelled Mina, cheering as she downed a shot. The pre-game had started early, and Skye was already a bit tipsy.

"Where are you all going?" asked Coulson as he watched Serenity, Mina, Skye, Jemma and Ward pile into their large SUV. They were all wearing light colored plain t-shirts and tanktops and various denim shorts. Mina had fashioned them all halo headbands made of flowers. Skye had painted silver and gold facial dots around their eyes.

"We're going raving!" said Skye excitedly. Serenity turned the radio on and she and Mina began dancing around in the car.

"Raving?" repeated May in bemusement.

"Yeah," said Mina.

"It's an activity that young people do in which they go to large clubs and venues and listen to very loud music with high tempo beats. According to the internet, there is often drugs and alcohol involved – specifically cocaine, ecstasy and something called molly."

"Wow," said Skye, "You just made raving sound boring."

Coulson frowned but before he could speak, Serenity jumped in to say, "Don't worry, Sir. We won't be doing an illicit drugs."

"Why is Ward going, but I can't?" whined Fitz.

"He's not going," scoffed Mina, "He's the chauffer. We'll take a taxi home."

"Well," said Coulson, "as long as you uphold the laws of the United States while you're there, have fun."

Ward dropped them off at the venue about forty-five minutes later. Serenity kissed her boyfriend goodbye and he drove off reminding them to be safe.

They got in the line to enter the show, which was a large industrial park like building. When they got to the bouncer, they all showed their IDs and got bracelets. It was dark when they walked in, strobe lights blaring and music was already playing.

"Does anyone want a drink?" Skye yelled to the girls.

They all nodded and headed over to the bar, "It's on me," yelled Serenity as she handed her card over and got them all shots.

About an hour later, they were dancing hard, laughing (in Jemma's case a bit drunkenly) and getting sprayed with colored dust that was in their hair and on their faces. A big man with dark brown hair approached them and said, "Do you want to meet Molly?"

"Who?" asked Jemma in confusion.

Skye laughed and Mina cried, "Fuck yeah we do!"

The music was blaring now, and the crowd was moving with the music, and people were screaming as they were sprayed with powders.

"50$ a bag," the guy said, "Cash."

Mina pulled cash out of her bra, "Give us 8." She shoved the cash into his hands and he pushed the drugs into her hand.

"Call me if you need more," he said, handing her his number and stalking away carefully.

"So that's why you asked Ward to stop at the ATM," said Jemma. "I thought we promised Coulson we wouldn't do drugs?" she continued in confusion.

"We fucking lied," Skye said.

"You knew too?" cried Jemma.

"Well, yeah," answered Skye, "We bought enough so you could try it. Do you want to try it, Jemma?"

Jemma was pensive for a moment, "Can't it cause a heart attack, or something?"

Skye shrugged, "Yeah, but you're with an immortal goddess who has healing powers. You'll be fine. Besides, you can think of it like one of your little science experiments."

Jemma narrowed her eyes. She had never done any kind of drug before, but she was weighing her options. She knew that the girls would never pressure her, but she felt like if she was going to do something stupid and dangerous, she should do it with someone who could heal her up. Plus, she would have intense understanding of drugs on the brain. Especially if she monitored her symptoms with the chip in her bracelet she and Fitz had been experimenting with. It could be the scientific opportunity of a lifetime. She could experiment in a way that no other scientist ever had before. "Oh alright!"

The girls cheered.

About an hour later, Jemma finally understood why people did drugs. It felt nice – sort of like eating chocolate and having sex at the same time. They danced for hours. Skye made out with a random boy, and she let him do a line of coke from her breasts. That made Jemma laugh (something she was sure would not have happened if she wasn't high) and so she made out with a boy too. It seemed like the night couldn't end, until finally they ran out (mostly because Mina and Serenity were experts and Skye wasn't too shabby either) and the rave began to die down. There had been thousands of people packed into the warehouse, and she could feel the sweat pouring from her pores. Before, it was almost impossible to move but she could finally breathe, and the crowd was thinning out.

Jemma's muscles were sore, something she wasn't sure was because of the drugs or the dancing. She didn't really care either. The rave was breaking up, and so the girls called a taxi and trudged out of the mill. What they were not expecting was for it to be so bright outside. Jemma checked her phone for the first time since she had arrived. It was five am. They had been at the rave for ten hours? It felt like they had only arrived an hour or two ago. Mina had warned them to bring sunglasses, and so they all put them on, finally feeling the intense drop that happened after drugs and alcohol and piled into the vehicle.

"Could you bring us to the nearest McDonald's?" Skye near whispered to the driver. Her head ached and she sort of wanted to vomit.

"Genius," said Mina as they drove towards food.

They walked inside, slowly and with caution since it looked like Jemma was going to vomit on her shoes.

"Can I get eight hash browns, four chocolate sundaes, four triple cheese burgers, four ten piece chicken nuggets, and four large fries with four large fountain drinks and four water bottles?"

The cashier looked at them knowingly as she rang up the order and swiped the card that was handed to her.

Less than ten minutes later, they were eating their meals and slowly slurping down water to rehydrate. "I've never eaten better food," moaned Mina. "Zagats mean nothing."

"Seconded," groaned Skye. Then she paused. "I thought I was going to vomit but I'm good now."

When they had eaten all their food, they hailed a cab and headed towards the bus. About twenty minutes later the cab dropped them off and the girls trudged towards the plane. It was about six-thirty at that point and the lift began to drop. There stood Agents May and Coulson who were looking at them with stern amusement.

"Way too much alcohol," groaned Skye.

"Far too much," agreed Jemma.

"I'm sure," said May sarcastically.

"Alcohol certainly causes bruising around the eyes," Coulson continued.

"That would be because Skye started a fight with another girl and got punched in the eye, Sir," Jemma said guiltily.

"Of course," Coulson said.

"Of course," Ward repeated as he guided his tired girlfriend towards their bunk. When they got there he gave her a pointed look, "Really?" he asked.

Serenity shrugged. "Jemma needs more life experiences."

"Not _those_ types of life experiences," Ward argued as he pulled Serenity's wedges from her bruised toes.

Serenity smiled, "I might have made a lot of poor life decisions back in college. But I wanted to experience everything so I knew what I wanted out of my life. How many people graduate college knowing exactly who they are? I partied hard in college – and now I don't really party except going out with Mina occasionally. It's just not that important to me anymore. I drank and did drugs because I hated my life," said Serenity sadly, "Mina and I may joke about how cool I was and laugh about all the crazy crap I pulled when I was in college but I think it's because I was lost." She paused, "I think the torture that Chaos put me through the last few years really messed with me, you know? I felt responsible for all of those innocent men dying. They didn't deserve it."

Ward frowned and sat down beside her on their bed, "You weren't at fault."

"I know that now," said Serenity, "But at the time it didn't feel that way. And I turned to drinking and drugs because that's what everyone at Dartmouth did. I was surrounded by fabulously wealthy, elitist kids who did cocaine before they took an exam to focus and crashed their parents' yachts and stole prized ponies to buy 8-balls of heroin. I regret it now, but at the time I enjoyed it. Is that bad?"

"No. We all deal with our lives in different ways," Ward said, "I didn't deal in a better way. I killed people, working for Garrett; people that didn't deserve it."

"Yeah," whispered Serenity, "I know. And you're forgiven for it, just like I've been forgiven for my mistakes."

Ward smiled and Serenity chuckled, "Mina on the other hand…"

* * *

A few days later, Serenity put one of her many plans into action. If this team was going to beat HYDRA, they would need to be in top condition, and everyone needed to be field trained.

"May and Ward may be training you on how to use your body as an advantage," began Serenity as she parked the black Jeep Wrangler in front of a discreet building, "But I'll be teaching you how to be lethal. You and I are going to live at this training course for the next three and a half weeks and when we return, you'll be ready enough to handle yourself in most situations."

Skye furrowed her brows, "The Calvary just showed me how to break someone's neck."

"But did she teach you how to stab a person in one movement that simultaneously severs the spine and pierces the heart?" responded Serenity as she led Skye down a hall.

"Where are we?"

"A training facility. There's only so much you can learn on the bus."

"Why me?" asked Skye, "Simmons needs more help than I do," Skye pointed out.

"She does," Serenity agreed, "But Simmons isn't training to be a field operative. Mina is teaching her the basics on how to properly shoot a gun. And lie – since she's pants at it. I'm going to introduce you to knives and handguns first. Which ever one you're better at, we'll focus on the other."

Before Skye could question her, Serenity placed a pair of protective goggles in Skye's hands. "Put these on and get ready to shoot this stationary target. By the end of this week, I'll have you killing the moving course."

"Alright, let's get this party started," said Skye as she placed the glasses on her face.

"Head and heart to kill, knee and elbow to torture, shoulder and shin to slow down," began Serenity.

They had been there for days. Serenity had Skye on a very strict routine. She would force Skye to start the day with a one-mile sprint and then a three-mile jog to teach her endurance. Then she brought her down to the range and helped her practice her marksmanship followed by at least two hours of hand-to-hand combat training. Then they would do some strength training in the evening and meditation. All in all, Serenity had Skye training for fifteen out of the twenty-four hours of the day. All she did was eat, sleep, and train.

"I didn't even know I had these muscles," groaned Skye as she stretched on the mat in front of her. "Has anyone ever told you that you have muscles of steel?" said Skye as she panted and gulped down her water.

"I have heard that many times, actually," Serenity laughed.

"Is it because you're a god?" Skye asked suspiciously.

Serenity laughed again, "Not this time. Of course being 'a god' does help keep my metabolism and strength and endurance high but the rest of it? That's all my training."

"Literally until we came here I thought you were strong but kind of scrawny. I'm looking at you now and all I see is muscle! What is your secret?"

Serenity smiled mischievously, "Barre."

"Say what?" Skye asked in confusion.

"Barre – like the ballet barre. That's what we've been doing every evening after your training in order to work your muscles. It's a mixture between Pilates, yoga and ballet. I taught barre through college with Mina."

"So you were like a bonafide yoga instructor?" Skye asked ludicrously as she did another set of squats.

"100 percent," said Serenity, "I could teach you real barre some time, not just these exercises or bring you to a class. Some of the moves might actually really help Jemma get her physical condition a bit more up to S.H.I.E.L.D. standard."

"How do you even have such strong muscles without bulking up?" asked Skye as she stretched.

"It's all about the way that you balance your exercise. Some cardio is necessary, and some strength training is necessary. Plus, I have a physically slim frame."

Skye smirked, "I bet Ward likes that."

Serenity laughed back and shook her head, demanding fifty more squats.

* * *

 **December 2013**

After explaining an abridged version of the story to Director Fury and Maria Hill, Grant Ward was now operating as a spy for S.H.I.E.L.D. within HYDRA, and Serenity and Mina would be permanent members of Phil Coulson's team, with strict orders not to blow their civilian covers as normal agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

"So, what's our plan for how you'll explain Serenity? If Garrett really has been HYDRA all this time, he's been getting information by looking through highly classified files. He's got clearance. Her file is bare at S.H.I.E.L.D. and only discusses her civilian life, which even if the file is half false, could raise questions. But he will still wonder why we have two new members of the team, especially as the addition will mean that my team now has four trained specialists," Coulson reasoned.

Serenity frowned, "We can try to keep it close to the truth, but with lies. Grant will tell Garrett that I'm in love with him. He'll explain he's sleeping with me, but doesn't feel any sense of attachment."

"But why you, and not Agent May? Wouldn't it make more sense for him to sleep with May? Her file makes her off as being more dangerous. Melinda has a reputation that can be rather intimidating. He'll be suspicious," said Coulson.

May gave a look of disgust.

Mina smiled, "Easy. He'll say he's sleeping with her because she's Sailor Cosmos."

"We can't tell Garrett that! He'll have her killed!" boomed Ward angrily.  
"Well, Garrett doesn't know everything there is to know about Serenity. He knows about as much as a normal person. You can just make the case that he believes that because she's in love with him, that making her believe he loves her back will convince her to join HYDRA."

Grant gave a hesitant look. "I don't like putting Serenity in his path like that. As soon as he finds out he will be obsessed with possessing her. And Daniel Whitehall will want her more than anything. He'll lock her in a cage and experiment on her if he gets the chance."

Serenity took his hand, "Please," Serenity said rolling her eyes, "Nat was the one to train me at S.H.I.E.L.D. and I've faced worse than Daniel Whitehall and John Garrett. I think it's a good plan. It will keep you safe, keep your cover, and it will help us weed out HYDRA sleepers. Skye, get a recorder ready so we can use this against him later."

Grant still looked unhappy but finally agreed before calling Garrett to make the fated phone call. As far as he had known, Romanov had never taken a rookie, but clearly he had been wrong. That made him feel a tiny bit better about the situation.

" _Grant."_

"Sir," responded Ward evenly, making a motion for everyone to be dead silent.

" _Can we talk?"_ asked Garrett.

"Yes," responded Ward without a beat.

" _Good. What did you learn?"_

"We have two new members to the team."

" _I did hear that. Serenity Queen and Mina Aino. Average at best."_

"Actually Sir, that's why I called you. It seems Agent Queen is more than just an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D."

" _She one of ours?"_ Garrett asked doubtfully, " _She ain't 100 pounds soaking wet. HYDRA wouldn't be stupid enough to make her a sleeper."_

"No, Sir. I believe she is Sailor Cosmos. The mystery leading member of that female group who helped during New York."

Ward could practically see hear Garrett's interest peak over the phone, _"And why do you think that, son?"_

"They look like they could be twins. Their hair is the same. How many people have that tone of silver hair and eyes? And yesterday she picked up a six hundred pound lab table when she thought no one was looking."

" _How you gonna spin this to our favor, Grant? Whitehall won't give up a little treat like her when she's right under your thumb. She could be the key to our success."_

"Well, Sir. I've been working to charm her for the last month that's she's been living on the bus. She's in love with me. Told me herself."

" _Really now, son? She's an attractive little thing. Love is a weak and useless emotion. Use it to our advantage and your own. You should fuck her while you've got the chance."_

Ward flinched angrily and gripped the phone tighter. Serenity put her hand in his.

"Already done, Sir. She's come to me willingly for days."

" _Well then, I have a new assignment for you. Turn her. She will be HYDRA. Make her loyal. Sell it convincingly. Beat her into submission if you have to. Report back to me in a week."_

"Yes, Sir."

Grant closed his eyes in absolute anger, squeezing Serenity's hand in his own as the line went dead.

Serenity turned to the group, "Could you give us a moment please?"

The rest of the team filed out of the Command Center reluctantly, leaving in horrified silence at what they had heard.

"Let's go back to the bunk, Grant."

He followed her to his bunk stiffly, and silently sitting on the bed. Serenity sat next to him. "Lie down."

He did as he was told, and felt Serenity curl up next to him. "I know you didn't mean those things, Grant. I asked you to do this. I know you are a good man. I know you love me. I know I love you." She trailed her fingers across his face, tracing the slight stubble of five o'clock shadow on his face. "And I've never wanted you more than I do at this moment." She kissed his lips softly, "Make love to me, Grant. I want you."

Grant looked at her with confliction, "I'm not good enough for you. You don't deserve this…"

"I want this," said Serenity, as she took his hand and placed it under her shirt suggestively. "I want to feel you. I need this. I need you."

Grant leaned in and kissed her deeply, his resolve broken as his hand climbed up her shirt. He was pleasantly surprised to find that she wasn't wearing a bra. "No bra?" he questioned.

"I don't like them," Serenity sighed before she moved her own hands to pull her shirt over her head, and help Grant remove his. He moved to kissing her neck, sucking lightly at the hollow of her neck.  
Serenity gasped and the whimpered, "Grant! Yes, please," she gasped as her hands roamed his muscular chest. Grant's hand moved from her breast to her jeans, unbuttoning and unzipping them quickly before pushing them down her legs before Serenity kicked them away.

"I need to feel you," she moaned, grabbing at his pants and helping him yank them down his legs.

"You'll have time later," Grant said as he put his mouth to her pink nipple. As soon as he sucked the peak became hard and puffy. "Your breasts are beautiful. Perfect. Absolutely perfect."

She could only moan in response as Grant let his hand wander down from her breast to her belly and then finally resting on her aching sex.

"Please!" she begged, "Please!"

"Not yet," he said as he kissed her again ad sucked on her neck again. "You're going to cum so hard tonight that you'll forget your own name." His fingers snuck below her panties and he groaned into her breast. He ripped her panties away hard and fast. "You're so wet."

"Ugh-" gasped Serenity shamelessly as he moved his fingers from her slit to her swollen clit.

"Who are you wet for?" he asked her, whispered into her ear, "Who is this sweet little pussy dripping for?"

Serenity groaned, and mumbled.

"Who, baby? Say it louder for me," Grant said as her stroked her faster and pushed a finger into her tight cunt.

"You!" she gasped brokenly.

"Who does it belong to? Who owns this cunt?"

"You!" she moaned again arching her back to be closer to his touch as her pussy sucked another finger in.

"You're just dripping here. You like when I call it your cunt? You like when I tell you what to do? Answer me, baby."

"Ugh!" she whimpered.

"That's not an answer, Serenity. Answer me, now."

"Yes!" she exclaimed.

"Yes what?" he asked as he put a third finger into her weeping pussy.

"Ah!" she cried, before responding, "Yes, Sir."

"That's a good little girl. Do you want to cum, Serenity?"

She nodded relentlessly, biting her lip and crying slightly as the begged, "Yes, Sir. I want to cum, please, _please_."

Grant sucked on her nipple and then squeezed her clit roughly with his other hand. "Cum now, Princess. Cum for me."

Serenity opened her mouth in a silent scream as red-hot pleasure lit her core and her walls tightened around Grant's fingers. It was the hardest orgasm she had ever had. She fell back to the bed in a boneless heap, panting.

But Grant wasn't done. Those fingers hadn't left her, and his thumb began to rub her overly sensitive, swollen clit again. Serenity groaned in pleasure-pain. "I can't," she whimpered.

Grant chuckled before kissing down her stomach and finally kissing her clit before taking a treacherously slow lick up her hairless slit. "You can, baby."

Serenity gasped, as she watched Grant eat her and take off the last piece of clothing shielding his manhood from her.

"You're perfect, Princess. Your pussy is so slick and swollen. It's delicious, baby. I could eat it everyday," he enunciated as he kissed her clit before pushing his tongue into her needy cunt.

She gasped and moved to shoot up from the bed, his strong arms the only thing keeping her in place.

"Grant!" she yelled.

"You gotta beg, baby. You're gonna beg to cum."

"I can't," Serenity cried, in desperation, shaking her head furiously.

"You're gonna."

"Please!" she begged frantically, "Please, Sir! I need to cum, please!"

"Let go, baby. Cum," he demanded, fiercely as he sucked on her clit and pushed his fingers into her dripping cunt roughly.

Serenity's eyes rolled back into her head as she shook where she lay, tears coming from her eyes as she came again quickly. She fell back onto the bed for the second time that night. Her pussy ached. Her clit felt like it was on fire. She was exhausted.

But when she felt Grant put his lips around her nipple as his hard cock brushed against her slit she felt another fire awaken in her. She moved to engulf him but was pinned down as Grant's mouth left her nipple. She looked from his eyes to his cock and gasped in fear.

"Absolutely not! That's not going to fit," she said fiercely, trying to crawl away.

"Baby, you're going to be the death of me," Grant groaned as he brushed his cock at her entrance.

"You will kill me if you put that in me! It's the size of my arm, Grant!"

"You're bloating my ego here, Princess," he chuckled.

She swatted his arm. "This isn't funny. You'll rip me in two!"

"I promise you'll be fine. I'm not going to hurt you. Relax, baby."

And then he slid the end of his thick cock into her with ease. She was so wet that he slipped right in. First, two inches, then four, then six, eight and finally all ten inches. He stayed still in her, allowing her to adjust. She shifted and it was too much. Her walls squeezed his hard cock and she came again, wrapping her legs around him in desperation.

"Jesus, baby," Grant groaned, as he struggled not to cum from her tight walls squeezing even tighter. He pulled out and then rammed his cock back in.

Serenity gasped, and her back arched up towards his chest. She clutched her small hand on his arm tighter, her nails digging into this skin. He didn't notice.

He pumped in and out as Serenity gasped, "Harder."

He slammed his cock into her with zeal.

"Faster," she cried out, "Please!"

Grant complied, his breath gasping as his speared his girlfriend's warm pussy vigorously.

"Deeper! Please! Please!" she called, her free hand gripping the sheet next to her, and her legs fastening around him tighter as she pushed her cunt towards his cock.

He hit her so deep his cock hit her cervix, making her scream in pleasure and pain.

"I'm almost there. Tell me you're going to cum, baby, please." His fingers reached out to rub her erect clit.

"Ugh," she replied her head rolling with pleasure. She came hard and fast, eyes closed, back arched, head spinning, toes curling, body on fire.

Grant continued to pound into her, rhythm dying as he reached orgasm. He let out a satisfied groan, shooting his load into her sore pussy. Without removing his cock, he collapsed next to her, and pulled her sluggish body to lie on his, kissing her hard.

They both panted, trying to catch their breath. Grant rubbed her back.

"I didn't hurt you, did I?" he asked in concern. Things had gotten rough. She'd cum four times in less than an hour.

"I loved it," whispered Serenity, as she kissed his chin, the only part of him she could reach in their current position, "I love you," she continued, "I love you so much."

"Not as much as I love you," Grant said, brushing her hair out of her face and kissing her forehead softly.

"Impossible," disagreed Serenity as she drifted into slumber.

He followed her soon after.

* * *

"Well it seems Agent Ward is good at _everything_ he does," said Mina conspiratorially to Jemma from the room next door.

"I can't believe I just listened to that," Jemma said in distress. "I'll never be able to look them in the eye again. Thank god that I pulled you away before they really started going. I can't believe I just did that."

Mina snorted, "Are you kidding? This is the best thing ever. I'm only jealous that she's getting some and I'm not. Maybe I should call the Captain."

Jemma's brows went to her hairline. "You and the Captain?"

Mina smiled, "Yes. All that sexy man muscle belongs to me and me alone."

"How did you guys get together?" Jemma asked curiously.

Mina smiled happily, "Well, Serenity and I were called in for the New York Incident by Fury and when we got there, the battle was literally just starting. Serenity and I used a portal and as we jumped through, I took a bullet for the Captain. It technically wasn't a big deal since I'm bullet proof, but I took a bullet and he thanked me. Serenity had already disappeared off trying to help a group of school children. The Captain was by himself so I told him I'd watch his back. I knew a man of muscle like that had to be hot and I could tell he thought I was attractive because duh – Goddess of Love but also because he kept blushing. The end of the battle came and we all went to get shwarma and I hit on him a little bit. I asked him if he wanted to go out sometime, and he said yes. Well, more like stuttered yes. It kind of just went from there. Serenity and I moved to New York after school was done since we were invited to live in Avengers Tower. We've been together for about a year and a half now."

Jemma smiled, "That's amazing. Any thoughts of marriage?" she asked.

Mina shrugged and said, "Eventually. Steve believes in marriage strongly. It's not something I've ever thought of really because Venusians by nature are not monogamous. We have open relationships. But I love Steve, and this is what he wants, so I'm willing to marry him, at some point. It would be a new adventure, anyway. He keeps proposing, but I keep saying no."

"Why?" asked Jemma as she sipped her latte.

Mina shrugged, "Serenity isn't married yet."

Jemma furrowed her brows together in confusion.

Mina elaborated, "Serenity is our Queen. She leads us. She has a destiny and she must fulfill it before any of the rest of us marry. We have a duty to complete before then," Mina said evasively.

"I'd like to meet Dr. Banner," Jemma interjected. "He's a role model of mine and Fitz."

"With good reason," agreed Mina, "He's a good man. He has his darkness, but he does try to overcome it and that it what is important."

"Yeah," said Jemma. It was.

* * *

"I can't believe we have to do this," groaned Ward in annoyance as he tied his dress shoes in a neat knot.

From the bathroom of the hotel room Serenity shrugged, "It happens, babe," she said as she powdered her face lightly. "Can you come zip up my dress, please?"

Ward took several long strides towards the bathroom before standing behind Serenity and placing his hands lightly on her back. "You look gorgeous, baby," he said kissing her neck.

She swatted him lightly, "Absolutely not! We have to get going or we will be late!"

Ward grinned into her neck as he began to push her dress up her leg, "I bet I can make you cum in less than five minutes."

Serenity blushed hotly, "Grant Douglas Ward! You're supposed to be zipping up my dress, not taking it off! I can't show up to this gala looking like I've been freshly fucked!"

"Oh yeah? I happen to think you look sexy when you've been freshly fucked," he whispered huskily, pulling her panties down her leg.

Serenity gasped angry, "Gr- oh my god!" she steadied herself against the sink groaning as Ward shoved himself into her without hesitation.

"Only five minutes," he whispered in her ear.

It was only five minutes, which is how they ended up being five minutes late, rushing from their hotel room into the fancy car S.H.I.E.L.D. had provided and speeding off towards the venue.

Serenity squirmed in her seat.

"I hope you can walk, baby," Ward commented as he took a left.

Serenity glared at him, "Since we were going to be late I didn't have time to clean up. Now, not only is my makeup a mess, I have cum dripping down my leg!"

Ward smirked as he took another turn, "Yeah?" he asked.

Serenity punched him hard on the arm, "Yes you asshole!"

Ward pulled into the valet and stared down the pimple-faced boy before shoving a fifty into his hand. "Don't scratch my ride." He pulled Serenity's hip to his and they sauntered into the venue with poise.

"There he is," Serenity said as she pretended to make eyes at Ward. "Three o'clock." They were hunting Senator Hart who Fury and Coulson believed might have ties to HYDRA. There were a lot of other political figures in the room, and Coulson and Ward had gotten enough information via Ward's connection with Garrett to come to the conclusion that something big was going to happen, and the Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, would be targeted. She'd been an irritant of the Senator as well as HYDRA for a while, and Ward and Coulson believed a terrorist attack would be staged that night to kill her and several other members of Congress that supported bills that would be considered anti-HYDRA.

They mingled, trying their best to figure out if there were anymore HYDRA supporters in the vicinity.

"Do you think you could get me a drink, hon?" Serenity asked, signaling that he should leave her for a few minutes in order for her to try to work her magic.

Ward stood and joined a line at the bar.

Serenity tightened her grip on her clutch and moved with ease across the ballroom and towards the bathrooms. On her way, she made sure to give Hart her most enthralled sex eyes. He saw them, and ate them up. She winked and looked somewhat dramatically towards the bathroom before smiling coyly and gliding towards the toilets.

She had barely closed the door to the private bathroom before it opened quietly. Senator Hart had taken the bate.

"Now young lady, what's a girl like you doing wearing a sexy little number like that?" he asked staring shamelessly at her white and gold chiffon ball gown. It shamelessly pushed up her breasts to miraculous proportions, and she had chosen it just for this in mind.

Serenity put her arms behind her back, pulling the zipper down but not letting the dress pool at her foot. "Wait till you see what's underneath," she breathed in a hot voice.

Senator Hart reached his hand out as Serenity let her dress drop to the floor revealing a lacey white corset and garter. The Senator choked, stepping forward. But it wasn't to come to anything because a moment later Ward opened the door and stunned him from behind. Then he scowled at her, "Did you have to take your dress off?"

"I wouldn't have if you had come faster," Serenity responded, pulling her dress back on and zipping it up quickly. "It's not like he actually saw anything important."

Ward glared and grabbed the unconscious Senator roughly, "Anything is too much."

Serenity giggled after him.

* * *

"I wasn't kidding the other day," said Skye as she stuck her spoon back in the tub of ice cream she, Serenity and Jemma were sharing.

"Ah," said Simmons, "She means your hair."

Serenity snorted and shrugged, "I cut it plenty. I donate my hair quite often."

Skye fingered the silky locks, "It's just so long. It must take hours to detangle."

Serenity shrugged as she moved to raid the fridge. "Takes about ten minutes," she said, "Any chocolate in here?"

"In the back," answered Jemma, "How does it only take ten minutes to detangle your hair? It's so long."

"Yeah," agreed Skye, "Don't you get split ends or something?"

Serenity pulled a cheese wheel from the fridge before raising a silver brow, "Goddesses don't get split ends." Then she paused, "Also my friend Michelle gave me this really nice serum and conditioner that keeps my hair in great condition."

"I want to cut it," said Skye abruptly, stabbing the spoon into the tub of ice cream.

"Skye!" gasped Jemma, scandalized, "You can't cut her hair!" Then she swatted Skye's hand, "Put down those scissors!"

Serenity laughed lightly and shrugged again, "Will cutting my hair give you a sense of peace?"

Skye looked at the hair in longing, "Yes. Yes it would."

Serenity turned her back towards the hacker and quickly pulled the pins from her buns before shaking her hair out and finger combing it quickly.

"Serenity, you do not have to cut your hair to please Skye!"

"Whoa."

"It's fine. I've been thinking a shoulder length bob would look great on me. It'll grow back soon."

"I didn't realize it was this long," said Jemma as she looked at the pile of hair on the floor. "It's longer than you!"

"It's been longer," said Serenity dryly.

"I can't bare to watch this," said Jemma as she watched Skye tie a ribbon to where the hair would be cut. "Have you ever even cut hair before, Skye?"

"Sure, all the nuns taught us how to cut our hair. Piece of cake."

A minute later there was much less hair on Serenity's head. She flipped it over, massaged the roots, and fluffed her hair before eating another slice of cheese.

"Why does everything look so good on you?" said Skye in slight annoyance, "You're like Barbie 2.0."

"It's true. You could make a paper bag attractive."

Fitz and Grant who looked at the long ponytail in Skye's hand, and then at the lack of hair on Serenity's head suddenly joined them in the kitchen.

"Bloody-"

"Babe, what did you just do?"

"I was craving a change."

"You trusted Skye with scissors?" asked Fitz incredulously.

"Hey!" she cried affronted.

"It grows back," said Serenity before kissing Ward quickly. She leaned up to his ear, while pulling him down to her height and whispered something quickly in his ear.

Simmons, Fitz and Skye watched in amazement as Serenity's hair rapidly grew back and crawled down her back and across the floor.

Ward's face was stern, but his eyes flashed.

"Well," said Serenity, "See you later!"

Somehow everyone else in the room doubted that.

* * *

I haven't written an R rated scene like that in ages, so I hope it was okay! If you're enjoying this tory please let me know in a review! Thank you to all the Follows and Favorites!


	3. Angel

And here is the next installment of Cosmic Love! This Chapter is over 8,000 words. I hope you all enjoy it. Let me know what you think at the end in a review. Thank you to all the people who have followed and favorited this story. There are about three more chapters to this story after this chapter!

 **Act 3.**

* * *

 **January 2014**

"It's been two weeks, Sere," said Mina as the two walked down an aisle in Costco. They'd been charged with stopping to get extra provisions for the bus – which could be anything from toothpaste to chocolate or tampons.

"It's the flu," said Serenity.

"It can't be the flu, honey. You and I both know you can't get sick."

"No," said Serenity as the turned into the next aisle.

"You are pregnant," said Mina.

"I'm not pregnant," replied Serenity as she threw condoms into the carriage.

"You are," said Mina, as she pulled a value size three-hundred box of tampons from the shelf.

"You haven't had your period in forever."

"I'm pure muscle – I skip periods all the time."

"Fine," said Mina as she pulled six different pregnancy tests from the shelf in front of her. "Pee on all of these. If they say you're not pregnant then I'll let it go and we'll do celebratory 'you're not pregnant' shots of tequila and screw boys."

"I would kn-"

"Let's go get some orange juice. You're peeing on those sticks today."

They checked out at the store and drove the supplies back to the bus. Mina had stuffed the pregnancy tests in her oversized Louis Vuitton tote bag and hauled Serenity to the bathroom.

"Drink this orange juice and start peeing, bitch."

Serenity sighed before pulling her skirt up and her underwear down. "I have to pee on a lot of these, so do you think you could like stick it under for me so I don't have to aim."

Mina rolled her eyes, "What are sisters for?"

A minute later, all six pregnancy tests were sitting on the sink.

"How are you going to tell Grant?"

"There's nothing to tell him," insisted Serenity.

"Yes there is – that you're pregnant."

"I'm not pregnant!" Serenity exclaimed in annoyance.

"In a minute we'll find out for sure won't we?"

The two stood in silence before Serenity started crying. "I'm pregnant. I know it. I've been pretending I wasn't. This is the wrong time. And I'm not ready. And Grant isn't ready. We've only been together for a couple of months. We can't have kids yet!"

"It's going to be okay," said Mina as she hugged Serenity, "And Chanel finally has a maternity collection so you can be pregnant in style."

"I can't look at them. You do it!" cried Serenity as her phone buzzed to tell her the time was up.

Mina grabbed the first stick, and looked at the results. She turned towards Serenity. "You're pregnant, Sere."

They both burst out into tears.

"Dance party?" Mina whispered.

Serenity just nodded.

* * *

"There's something I need to tell you," Serenity said as the team celebrated Coulson's rescue.

"Hmm?" Grant said as he followed her into their bunk.

She sat down in his bed abruptly. "I don't know how you're going to feel about it. And I know the timing isn't good. And-"

"Just spit it out, baby," he encouraged her as he knelt in front of her.

"I'm pregnant," she blurted out nervously.

He stared at her.

She took a deep breath nervously. "Grant?" she whispered.

"It was going to happen eventually," was all he responded.

She looked at him incredulously. "I was on the pill. It shouldn't have happened."

"But besides that we haven't really been using any other forms of protection," He continued, "And I remember a girl – with strawberry blonde hair, being born."

Serenity sighed and curled into his side. "I know the timing isn't great."

"It was meant to happen," he said firmly, "It would have happened regardless of any other contraceptive."

"I know," she whispered back.

"You're going to have to be careful," he said firmly.

"Okay," she agreed quietly.

"And I don't want you going on field missions where you could get hurt."

"Okay."

"And you won't be going anywhere alone."

"Okay."

"And I want you to call in the rest of your Queen's guard. Mina can't protect you on her own all the time, baby. And Garrett will start calling me away, soon. I need you to be in capable hands."

At this Serenity hesitated, "I don't like calling them unless it's an emergency. They deserve lives of their own before The Great Freeze."

Grant stood up and looked out the window. "Serenity," this caught her attention, "We can't keep this a secret for very long. If Raina, or anyone else working for Garrett and HYDRA see you, they will report back to him. And if Garrett thinks I'm keeping secrets from him, he'll target you."

Serenity bent her head, "I know."

"And baby, you're tiny. You're going to start showing before you even know it."

She teared up and nodded before wiping the tears from her eyes.

"So we're going to need some extra protection on this bus."

"How will we explain that to Garrett? To Fury?" she asked.

"We'll tell them the truth; that they are there for your protection. This will help us sell you as Sailor Cosmos too."

"Okay. I'll have Mina call them."

"Okay," said Ward.

"Okay."

* * *

 **February 2014**

"How's your sex life, now that you're pregnant?" asked Mina.

Simmons put her face in her hands, "Stop! Don't act like we don't hear them every night!"

"And morning," supplied Skye.

"And afternoon," said Mina.

"May said she caught you two in the cargo bay," continued Jemma, finally realizing the conversation was going to continue. She might as well bond with the girls and suck it up.

"What is attractive about having sex in a cargo bay?" asked Skye, "I personally think that would be hard on the back."

"Yes, because Ward is so muscley, and dreamy," sighed Mina, "Boy do I miss the Cap."

Serenity gave her a disgusted look, "Don't pretend you sleep here at night. I know you've been using Chronos's portals to go between here and Steve's place."

"Once a day isn't enough. I'm the Goddess of Love, Dah-ling."

"Goddess of a pain in my ass," said Skye, "I can't believe Captain America isn't single. My heart hurts. All of the hot members of the Avengers are in relationships and it's literally killing me."

"And if you think that makes you upset, let's just say, the serum increased everything to proportion." Mina sighed in delight, "I always get two or three rounds before he's even managed to shrink. Doctor Erskine made a miracle."

"I imagine Agent Coulson is having a rather similar feeling towards Captain America. There is a bromance there."

"Bromance?" question Serenity.

"It's a-" continued Jemma factually.

"I'm just surprised you know it," Serenity said with a laugh. "But your answer to the original question?"

"Yes?" asked Mina, "Tell me? I want to hear it from the gift horse in the mouth."

"That's 'hear it from the horse's mouth', Mina," corrected Skye with a laughed.

"Whatever! Just tell us. We're all dying to know. Ward is very attractive."

"Have you seen those deltoids?" asked Skye.

"He has nice eyes," Jemma continued.

"And great cheekbones," helped Mina.

"And fabulous lips and jaw structure," supplied Jemma.

"Ugh, and that six pack," Skye groaned.

All four girls' eyes glazed over for a few minutes before they snapped out of it.

"Well," said Serenity.

"Yes?" helped Skye, who found herself interested as well.

"Grant excels in all physical activities… sex included."

"And?" prompted Mina.

"And… He's a very generous lover, if you understand what I'm trying to say."

Jemma sighed, "That sounds lovely."

"And," said Serenity, blushing hotly for the first time since the conversation began, "He's very… commanding in bed."

"No way!" gasped Skye.

"Huh?" asked Jemma.

"I knew it!" yelled Mina before grabbing Serenity's hand.

"Someone please explain this to me. I am confused, and I do not enjoy it at all," said Jemma desperately.

"Let's just say, it seems like Agent Grant Ward likes to assert control in all aspects of his life, including in the bedroom," giggled Mina.

"Oh!" gasped Jemma, "Like 50 Shades of Grey?" she asked, "My mum recommended it to me. I want to be with a guy like that," she sighed as the rest of them gazed at her with open mouths. "What?"

"It's always the quiet ones," Skye said.

Jemma turned bright red before making a comment that she knew would dissolve the tension. "Thirty second dance party?"

Mina and Serenity cheered.

* * *

 **February 2014**

"It's perfect," said Serenity.

"It is a beautiful house," said the red lipped realtor. "I've shown this home to three families this week!"

Serenity and Ward could see why. Including the finished basement and attic, it was a five floor Victorian on a hill overlooking the Nantucket Sound that came with a private beach on the property along with over ten acres of forest in front of the house and to the sides It had a large living space with 20,000 square feet, twelve bedrooms, sixteen baths, a full wrap around porch and a tower. It had tall ceilings, a completely redone kitchen and an entirely finished basement and attic with a detached six-car carriage house and a 3,000 square foot guest house. On the private pier was a gazebo that could seat a couple of dozen people comfortably for summer meals. There were no neighbors for miles, and it was a long drive down the driveway to the house to keep privacy. It was everything they were looking for in a home. Even the asking price was fair; the house would set them back about twenty-six million dollars, only half of what they had set their limit at.

"I can see why," replied Serenity as she touched the door frame of the living room.

"I'll just leave you two alone to view the rest of the house," said the woman.

Serenity walked up the stairs, followed by Ward. She walked into the first bedroom she saw and sighed deeply. "I love it."

"I know," said Ward. "I can tell."

"This could be a nursery," said Serenity as she touched the light cream walls. She turned to Ward, "This could be our home, Grant. We could raise her here."

Ward took Serenity into his arms, "Do you want it?"

"I want it. I really, really want it," said Serenity.

"I just wonder whether or not it's wasteful to have such a large house when it will only be the three of us," said Ward. While he had been raised in a household with a lot of money, Ward had never been a big spender. S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA both paid him very well, enough so that he could pay a fair amount of the price of the house instead of his goddess girlfriend paying the entire thing out of her bank account. While he was never one to spend, Ward definitely understood the attraction to nice houses. Homes were special, and it was important for both he and Serenity to feel as though a house could be a home.

Serenity, unlike Grant had grown up with a very different life. Her Earthen family had been very wealthy, wealthy enough to send her to the best private schools. When her parents had died, she had inherited all of that money and used it to fund hers and Mina's education at Dartmouth. But even in her first life, Serenity had been raised in a palace that was the size of a city, wanting for nothing and with access to any and everything. She was royalty, and with the fall of the Silver Millenium, she was the sole holder of the Lunarian family fortune – a massive fortune that has accumulated over tens of thousands of years. Ward knew that Serenity was used to a life of luxury, and that was evident in her choice of house. But if it made her happy -

"Then we'll make an offer to pay the full asking price in cash on the spot."

"Yeah?" whispered Serenity as she hugged Grant tightly.

"Yeah," he said back kissing her on the forehead.

"I love you," she said.

"I love you," he replied quietly. "And if this house will make you happy, then you will have this house."

"Our house," Serenity tested.

"Our house," Ward reaffirmed.

* * *

"Oh, odango," Lita crooned as she nuzzled her head with her fist, "You're so cute. I could just eat you up."

"Lemme go," whined Serenity while Amy laughed nearby.

"Amy, Raye, Lita," she greeted, hugging them all fiercely. "I've called you here today because Grant and I need your help.

Lita narrowed her eyes, "Grant?"

Serenity flushed a bright red. "He's – um."

Grant stepped forward, reaching his hand out, "I'm Grant Ward, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Are you now?" Lita said dangerously. "And why do _you_ need our help?"

"Lita," scolded Serenity as Mina giggled from the corner. "I love him."

"Really?" said Lita in annoyance.

" _Really,_ " pressed Serenity, "And he's the new holder of the Golden Crystal," she continued sternly.

Lita sighed, "Fine. He's alright, then. I guess." She continued to glare at Ward through narrowed eyes.

Raye sighed, "Stop bullying Prince Endymion, Lita."

Lita grumbled before going silent in compliance.

Serenity smiled and took Grant's hand before wrapping her other arm around him and looking up at him with a small smile. She turned her gaze to the Inner Scouts and snuggled closer to Grant.

"Don't worry," said Raye, "Lita is just acting like a brat because she doesn't like planes, and we're slated to live on one until further notice. She'll love you, soon anyway."

Serenity smiled, "Grant and I are pregnant."

"Maybe not," Raye mumbled under her breathe.

Amy smiled brightly before wishing her congratulations, and hugging Serenity fiercely. Raye and Mina followed.

Lita's eye twitched, "You can't-can't-"

"Have sex?" supplied Skye from the balcony.

"Yes!" shrieked Lita before turned red in anger.

"Lita," said Amy calmly, "Just congratulate her in stop your bemoaning."

* * *

"How long have you all known each other?" Fitz asked after he and Amy were finally finished having a debate on something no one else besides Jemma could understand.

"We've been very close since we were fourteen," Raye answered without hesitation. "After we all graduated from High School, many of us went our separate ways to enjoy a normal life for the amount of time that we could."

"We all had different dreams," continued Lita, "And we wanted to follow different paths. But in case there was trouble, or our Princess needed our help, we always stayed connected."

"When we started to apply to universities, it was clear that we couldn't let Serenity go wherever she decided to go alone. And then one of us would follow her for protection. The obvious choice was Mina," said Raye.

"Because they look so much alike. If Mina puts on a wig, or uses her powers to disguise herself, you'd never know a difference," finished Amy. "From the day of her birth, Mina, or Princess Venus in our past lives, has always been the Princess's last defense. We are all her guardians, her handmaidens, her Queen's Guard. We are always prepared to lay our lives aside to make sure she lives. However, Mina is in a different situation. She is the leader of her guard. And she is to be a decoy in times of war."

Skye made an anxious face, "A decoy?"

"Yes," Mina said cheerfully, "Serenity and I were taught all of our etiquette lessons together. We learned everything together as children. I know her movements, actions, and abilities better than she knows herself."

Fitz hesitated before asking the question that both he and Simmons wanted to know. "Have you ever been Serenity?"

Mina smiled brightly, "I have been Serenity enough times to be able to confidently do anything just as she would in any situation. I could deceive just about anyone – aside from the rest of the scouts and Ward."

"Because of that," continued Amy factually, "It was decided that in case of an urgent situation, that it should be Mina to follow Serenity's movements. Mina has access to things, and has powers that we do not possess, because she is the leader of the Queen's Guard."

"And I'm happy to do it," Mina said, "Besides being my duty, Serenity is more like my sister than my cousin. Serenity's divine father is my divine mother's brother. We were raised as siblings. She's my best friend."

FitzSimmons shared a look. Mina did not live her own life. She had shared Serenity's from childhood, and the fact that she accepted it so easily frightened them a bit.

"It's always been this way," said Mina thoughtfully, "Even when she used to sneak down to Earth to visit her Prince, someone had to make sure she wasn't kidnapped, or killed. So I followed silently." Mina shrugged, "That's how I met Kunzite, anyway."

The other three scouts in the room went silent and shared knowing glances. Skye narrowed her eyes. There was something they didn't know here, and she wanted to know what. She opened her mouth, but Amy shook her head discreetly.

"Anyway, Serenity wanted to study in America, so we all moved here," Raye said thoughtfully, "Just in case, you know? Serenity and Mina attended Dartmouth, I went to UPenn, Lita attended Brown, and Amy went to Harvard. We were all close enough that if we got called, we wouldn't be too far to help."

"Mina and Serenity were contacted by S.H.I.E.L.D. when we were graduating from High School. They told them S.H.I.E.L.D. would pay for their education, if they promised to work for S.H.I.E.L.D. at least five years after graduating from Dartmouth. Mina and Serenity did research, and that's how they ended up at S.H.I.E.L.D.," explained Amy.

"Then the New York Incident happened and we basically outed ourselves to S.H.I.E.L.D. That was pleasant," chirped Lita.

"We've been together for our whole lives," insisted Mina, "And we will be together, _forever_."

"So you really are immortal?" Skye asked, "I got that vibe when Sailor Cosmos said she was older than basically everything."

Mina hesitated, "Sort of?" she responded, "We are immortal but we can be killed. We will just be reborn and recall our past lives. If we aren't killed, we'll live forever."

"How is that possible?" questioned Fitz.

"I do wonder," said Simmons.

"It's odd isn't it?" asked Fitz.

"Because even Asgardians-"

"Yes, they live to be-"

"-about five thousand, I would say."

The two scientists stood in silence for a moment.

"May I take a-"

"Don't even ask that question, Jemma," replied Skye.

Lita laughed in amusement, "It's strange to think of a humanoid being as immortal, isn't it? But we aren't human."

"Far from it, actually. I'm Martian, Lita is Jupitaran, and so on." said Raye thoughtfully.

"Are you like Gods or something?" asked Skye, "Because Serenity looks too perfect to just be an alien. And she said something before that had me wondering."

Mina frowned thoughtfully before tapping her chin, "Well, we were worshipped like Gods and we channel powers like Gods. For example, a thousand years ago, when the Silver Millennium flourished, I was Princess Venus. I had no other name than Venus. My planet was Venus, I ruled over my planet and millions of people from my place on the Moon, but I had a grand palace on Venus named Magellan Castle. Besides leading the Sailor Scouts, I commanded hundreds of thousands of men in the Venusian army. They worshipped me, prayed to my being and devoted their lives and deaths to me. Thousands of men fought for my hand, and thousands more prayed to me each night for love and beauty, and I would grant them." She shrugged and then continued thoughtfully, "And that was nothing compared to the devotion that Princess Serenity wrought across the Galaxy."

"What do you mean? I thought that Serenity didn't become Cosmos until she turned sixteen?" asked Skye.

"Well, she didn't," answered Lita, "But she was a Goddess in her own right a thousand years ago. We all were."

Amy pulled out her computer and typed until a three-dimensional model of the Moon appeared on the holotable.

"This is the Moon," she said, "You know this." She zoomed in, "This is _mare serenitatis,_ or in the Common Tongue, The Sea of Serenity. This is where the Moon Kingdom was located, built right off of the beaches of the lake. Although people lived all around the Moon, this was where the Queen's royal Palace, Crystal Lunaria was. The entire palace was made of a native crystalline Moon substance, harder than diamonds, and more beautiful than stars in the sky. Strangely, The Sea of Serenity was a poisonous lake that killed anyone who tried to come near it.

"But the lake was worshipped because it would produce small beads of this crystalline material that would jut out from the lake and land on its shores. Serenity I, the first Queen of the Moon became Queen because she could bathe and even drink this toxic water. The moment she stepped into the water, the lake calmed. Instead of spitting toxic water in rage as it usually did, the waters went tranquil and calm, for the first time in recorded history. The lake was named after Serenity I and since then, each daughter of Serenity has been a Queen to drink from the lake.

"When we were first born, we were all several years older then Serenity. When we pledged to be her guardians, we watched as the newborn, no more than hours old, Princess Serenity XXI drank from the poison lake, and was crowned Heir Princess of the Moon Kingdom."

"So the lake chose Serenity's family? That's how she became Queen?"

"More or less," Raye said, "Although, from what we have gathered, the real reason that their family was able to drink from the lake was the Legendary Silver Imperial Crystal. It's power allowed the women to do things that no other could ever safely do. It's power is unlimited, and eternal. You know the tasseract? Ten thousands of tasseracts could not match the Silver Crystal. This Crystal was also the reason people worshipped Queen Serenity, and eventually worshipped Princess Serenity. Not only were they very powerful, they were beautiful, beautiful women, with very stark white skin, red lips, silver hair and eyes, and an air of elegance and mystery. But even Queen Serenity's beauty was nothing compared to Princess Serenity."

"You know of angels?" asked Lita with a sly smirk, "In the bible?" At the nods she received Lita continued, "Serenity is the original being that inspired the idea of an angel that arrived from the heavens. She quite literally would fall from the Moon in a ray of bright white light, and onto Earth, where she was worshipped by the people of Terra for miracles like returning sight, replacing missing limbs, curing illnesses, and even bringing the dead back to life. Although, if they had known she was actually the Lunarian Princess, they probably would have had different reactions."

"People across the Galaxy came to the Moon in order to pay their homage to Princess Serenity. There wasn't a day when a King from a distant planet or star didn't come to see her beauty for himself, and present extravagant gifts from their homes, or," Mina laughed, "Present their sons and nephews to Queen Serenity as a match."

"She was even more sought after than Venus!" exclaimed Raye in annoyance, "All six of my brothers tried to gain her hand."

"And all three of mine," agreed Amy.

"But she only wanted Prince Endymion, and he wanted her back," said Lita. Then all of the girls went quiet, and solemn, "And we all died because someone else wanted her, too."

* * *

 **March 2014**

Bad seeds were worrisome. Especially now that the team was aware that there were HYDRA agents infiltrated at every level of the organization.

"So we're going to the Academy? Like actual spy school?" questioned Skye curiously as the group stood around the holotable.

"Wait, what?" asked Mina in confusion.

"There's a chance there is a bad seed at Sci-Tech. And we've been called to investigate," said Simmons proudly.

"We were cool at Sci-Tech," continued Fitz.

"Yay," said Serenity clapping her hands together, "This is going to be so fun!"

"Didn't you go to Operations?" asked Skye in confusion.

"Well, yes," admitted Serenity, "But Callie is at Sciences."

"Callie?" asked Skye.

"My little – our whole family works for S.H.I.E.L.D. Victoria's my big, obviously, her big is Maria Hill, _her_ big is Jane Foster and _her_ big is Betty Ross."

"Crap," said Skye, "I'm jealous Jane gets to see Thor naked."

The rest of the team laughed.

While the rest of the team investigated, Callie and Serenity took a much needed bonding date. Ward was insistent she not be involved in any kind of field missions, and this seemed like a good time to catch up.

"So, anything you want to tell me?" asked Callie as they licked their cones. "Either you've gotten fat or you're hiding something."

"Caught me," Serenity said smiling, "I'm pregnant."

Callie paused, "What the hell? Congrats, I think? Or was this a total accident? Like on teen mom but not."

"Taken with love," Serenity said, "Grant and I are very happy."

"Grant?" asked Callie, "The tall dark and sexy one?"

"The very same," Serenity said.

"I see a ring, Sere," Callie said, "Something else you need to tell me?"

"Eh – I'm not sure. I have it, and he gave it to me, and he didn't object when I put it on this finger. But he hasn't proposed. And we haven't even discussed marriage."

"Hmm," said Callie, "Well, invite me to the wedding."

"Want to watch the Princess Diaries?" asked Serenity as she pulled on her fleece pajamas and climbed into her little's bed.

"Is that movie ironic to you, or?" asked Callie.

Serenity rolled her eyes and switched on the TV. "As if. I would never leave the house with my hair looking like that."

The two curled up together in silence.

* * *

"Ugh," said Serenity as she pulled her fat day jeans over her hips. "I'm getting huge. Even Callie noticed."

Ward sighed, "You're not huge, baby. You're pregnant."

"Same thing," replied Serenity. "I need to go shopping for some new clothes. I literally can't fit anything except these ugly jeans and my flannels. And I need to start buying baby clothes."

Ward's brow rose, "Are you fishing for me to tell you to go shopping?" he asked knowingly.

"I don't know, am I?" asked Serenity.

"Remember last month when we bought a house for over twenty million dollars?" asked Ward with a joking smile.

Serenity scoffed, "Obviously. But you see, if I can max your card _and_ mine I can buy more stuff."

Ward rolled his eyes. His girlfriend would never change. "Fine, fine. Buy whatever you need."

"Want," corrected Serenity cheekily.

"Want," Ward conceded. "I spoil you too much," he continued as he massaged her hips from behind.

She turned around and kissed him softly, "You spoil me just enough," she whispered, then continued, "Mina found a store in town that sells maternity lingerie."

"Yeah?" whispered Ward as he cupped her ass and moved his hands into her pants.

"Mhmm," she whispered as she kissed him again. "And I'm a _very_ good model _._ "

* * *

 **March 2014**

"I don't know how I feel about you coming with us on this mission."

Serenity frowned, "I am literally the perfect alibi for you. No one will suspect a man with a pregnant wife to be a spy. Look, I even wore the new dress that I bought when I went out with Jemma, and the ring you gave me – before."

Ward could help but smile lightly at his girlfriend. She could be so cute sometimes.

"Doesn't white stick out a little?"

Serenity gave him a mock glare, "Not as much as all black! And anyway, everything I own is white or light pink. Literally everything. White looks good on me."

"Doesn't white go out of season or something?"

Serenity rolled her eyes, "It's kind of important to me. Back during the Silver Millenium, the only people allowed to wear white were the Royal Family of the Moon. So, every dress I owned was white. They all looked basically the same, and no one else had anything similar. It's a tradition that I follow I order to honor my mother, and my people. And we both know that there are Lunarians who walk among us today who would be happy to see me with a Crown and wearing all white."

Ward sighed, "Be that as it may, I still don't like this."

Serenity shrugged, "You don't really have to like it. It's my job. I won't be in the way of fire. I'm not leaving the car we sit in. You are. If anyone's in danger, it's you."

The two of them hopped out of the rented vehicle and Ward kept their covers by opening the back of the family SUV and pulling out a medium sized suitcase with an attached briefcase. Serenity held her tote bag in order to allow Ward one hand free in case he needed to shoot.

"What time is the ticket for?" Ward asked. What he really meant was, 'do you see anyone suspicious?'

"3 o'clock, babe," she said as she made a show of stretching and smoothing her white eyelet dress over her baby bump, noting to do it when the man in suspect was watching. "Let's go. The train should be boarding any minute."

Ward walked behind Serenity protectively onto the train before the two of them sat down in a booth four seats away from Simmons and Coulson.

A stewardess came by and took their orders. "I'll take a pretzel, an order of pickles and a lemonade. Wait, scratch the lemonade, my bladder can't take that much sugar. How about an iced tea? And can those be kosher pickles?"

The stewardess gave her a small smile, "When are you due?"

Serenity smiled brightly, "July 30th! My husband and I got married a week ago and are taking a trip across Europe for our honeymoon!"

"Baby," Ward sighed, "She doesn't want to know all about that."

Serenity forced a red blush and stuttered. The stewardess smiled and walked away to get their order.

"You know what we should do later?" asked Serenity as the woman left. She leaned into his side from her window seat and cuddled her arms around his bicep.

"What's that?" asked Grant knowingly into the top of her head.

Serenity craned her neck up to look at her boyfriend and whispered mischievously, "You don't have to meet for the rendezvous for another two and a half hours. If you behave, I'll let you finger me under the table." Then she gave him a look and said, "Kiss me, right now."

And he did without hesitation. He had meant to keep it chaste, but Serenity deepened the kiss quickly. And he was a man and had been painfully hard for over and hour, so he certainly wasn't going to stop her. When she pulled away - cheeks and lips flushed red - Ward smirked arrogantly. Serenity didn't even tell him to stop grinning like an idiot.

"What was that for?"

"Public displays of affection make people uncomfortable. No one is going to look our way for the rest of the ride."

* * *

"I'm coming with you," said Serenity as she followed Fitz and Skye.

"No!" cried Fitz. "Ward'll kill me!"

"Yeah I happen to like my limbs attached to my body, so I'm going to have to say no to that one."

Serenity didn't even blink. "But if I don't come, there will be no one to protect me."

Fitz hesitated, "I guess that's true."

The team had been split up. The rest of the Scouts were assumed to be with Ward and Coulson, but Fitz wasn't exactly sure. Everything had gone to hell pretty fast. They'd been made as soon as they stepped on the train. They'd definitely been sold out but Serenity didn't know whom. She guessed that it was the Italians. They'd always gotten angry of jurisdictional pissing contests.

"We can't let Quinn get away," said Skye determinedly. She'd gone up against him once, and after what he had done before, Skye wasn't interested in playing games with the slime ball millionaire.

"You can't go in there by yourself!" Fitz exclaimed. To his knowledge, Skye had training from Serenity, just like Jemma, but he was certain there was no way she could take an entire house filled with enemies.

"I have to. Serenity can't go, and you can't really use a gun, so,"

Fitz muttered under his breath. "Here take these," he placed an experimental ICER in her hands.

"Maybe I should come," Serenity interjected.

Skye gaped at her, "You're pregnant! They have guns! They want to shoot you!"

Serenity shook her head. "Ward told Garrett that I'm pregnant a while back. They know not to shoot me. It would ruin their plans."

"But there are stray bullets. You could get shot," Fitz explained, "And any gunshot wound when pregnant could cause a miscarriage."

"I will be perfectly fine. I'm not going to get shot," Serenity insisted.

"But you could," Skye argued, "And that can't happen."

Serenity pulled a night-night gun from her back waistband. "Good thing I have this, some knives and fast reflexes."

Skye and Fitz shared a look.

"Even if you tell me no, I'll come anyway."

"I'm sorry about this," said Skye, quickly shooting Serenity in the arm with the ICER.

Fitz grimaced in obvious chagrin, "She's going to be so pissed when she wakes up."

Serenity woke up in a haze. Skye had shot her. _That bitch!_ She raised her head carefully and noticed that Fitz was preoccupied trying to get some of his equipment to work. If she planned this properly, she could sneak away and join Skye. She looked at the watch on her wrist. It seemed that that the ICER didn't work on her completely, since less than ten minutes had passed. She focused her hearing on the building. She could hear Skye. She looked up again and then as fast and quietly as she could she rushed away from Fitz and climbed through a window, silently moving past the guards. She had to be careful not to be spotted or she could break Ward's cover. She followed Skye's voice until she came to a stairwell leading to the basement. As she stood outside of the closed door she heard Ian Quinn speak threateningly. "What if I tried to hurt you? Would you stop me?"

"No." _That was Mike Peterson_ , Serenity thought in surprise. Things must have been bad if he was there. She had thought he was dead.

"Mike, we have to get out of here, now!" exclaimed Serenity.

She needed to enter now. Skye was going to get herself in trouble and so she slammed the door open and rushed in, "Skye!"

Quinn's head whipped towards the source. "Who are you? How'd you get in here?"

"Leave!" gasped Skye, "You're going to get hurt!" What was Serenity thinking, walking into trouble like that? She was pregnant, and this was a dangerous situation.

"No!" fumed Serenity angrily as she put her hands on her hips.

Quinn sensed that there was something he was missing, and so he smirked and changed his tactics. "And what if I told you to hurt her?" asked Quinn, pointing the gun in Mike's hand at Skye. She froze in fear. Skye might have had training, but Quinn was too far for her to take his gun and even if he wasn't, something happened to Mike and she thought he would take her down in a heartbeat.

"Those aren't my orders," bit out Mike. In the blink of an eye, so that no one in the room even so the blur, he pointed the gun at Serenity who had been inching towards the shuffle carefully in order to help Skye. Without hesitation he shot her point blank.

"Oh," she whispered, looking down. She'd worn such a pretty white dress that showed her visible bump. And it was ruined. "Skye." And then she dropped to the floor and gasped for air as her head struck the stone blocks with a sickening crack.

Skye had never seen so much blood. In a panic she rushed over towards Serenity. She was quickly becoming one of her best friends, and all she could see was silver blood oozing through her dress and down her legs across the floor. There was no way she could survive this. "What have you done!?" Sky screeched as Mike stepped over Serenity and Skye and climbed the stairs.

"I followed my orders," Mike said coldly as he climbed the stairs without remorse.

Skye crouched over Serenity, putting pressure on the wound that was bleeding uncontrollably from Serenity's pale upper thigh. She didn't know what to do. It was Jemma that knew how to save people! Skye didn't even know CPR!

"What the hell did you do to him!" screamed Skye as jolted up towards Quinn angrily. But Quinn was not perturbed. He raised his gun and in a millisecond all Skye could feel was pain. Quinn had shot her. In confusion and pain, Skye fell next to Serenity not truly understating what happened. Quinn came close to her holding on to her and then he shot her again. She had thought she couldn't feel anymore pain, but she was wrong.

"I'm sorry. I have my orders too," Quinn whispered strangely, dropping her next to the bloody heap that was Serenity slowly dying.

Skye watched him leave. They were both going to die. Serenity was going to die, and so was she. Serenity's baby was going to die, Ward's baby. She couldn't let that happen. With her last strength she pulled the ICER she had hidden in the back of her trousers. She fired the last round from the ICER at Serenity who froze completely. The bleeding had stopped, and her plan had worked. Skye turned her head and whimpered, "Help!" She crawled towards the door and cried out again, "Help!" She reached towards the door handle. But her muscles failed her. And suddenly, all she could see was black.

* * *

"Where's Skye?" asked Coulson to Fitz as he and Ward finally arrived at the villa.

"She didn't want to let Quinn get away she's-"

"Where's Serenity?" asked Ward desperately. There was no one there but Fitz.

"She's over there!" Fitz exclaimed turning to where she had been lying on the ground frozen. But there was no one there, not even a trace of the tall blonde. "Oh God, she must have followed Skye in."

Ward gasped and rushed towards the villa, "She's not bulletproof when she's in her human form!" The rest of the team quickly followed him into the villa. With guns in both hands he shot down every man who came his way marching in as Coulson incapacitated Quinn. Quinn wouldn't get away with this again. The man was a murderer – and he hoped that he hadn't been able to complete the deed again.

"Where's Skye? Where's Serenity?" growled Coulson as he punched him in the face.

Quinn smirked, "You know, it's dangerous to keep sending her in alone."

"Where's Serenity?" Ward pressed as Coulson pushed the gun deeper into Quinn's neck.

"Who?"

Coulson hit him hard and Ward shoved his head into the table. Ward wanted desperately to shoot the man, but he refrained. If he shot him too soon, they would never know what happened to Skye and Serenity.

"Search the house. Find them! Now!" he rushed towards the basement as FitzSimmons rushed up the stairs. He shoved the door at the bottom of the stairs open and almost vomited at what he saw. "Simmons! Grant! Get down here!"

The team followed by the Sailor Scouts rushed in and gasped at the sight before them.

"They've been shot," Coulson said dumbly.

"Keep her upright," Simmons directed towards Skye franticly.

Ward kneeled next to Serenity pushing down on the wound that was barely bleeding. "Simmons, she's not bleeding. Why isn't she bleeding?"

Fitz kneeled next to him and looked at both Serenity and Skye. "It looks like Skye shot her with the ICER to try to stop the blood flow."

"I've got not pulse."

"She's lost too much blood. I don't… Put here in there!" cried Simmons pointing at the machine near the wall.

"Do you even know what that is?" Ward asked. This was one of his girlfriend's best friends. He didn't want to take any chances with her – not that there were any other choices.

"It's a hyperbaric chamber and I said put her in there now!" Jemma yelled fiercely.

"Temperature dropping, pressure stabilizing."

"Is it working?"

"For now."

* * *

"We need to get them medical attention. And fast. They're both in bad condition. Normally I would say Skye more so than Serenity, since she had the foresight to ICE her. But Serenity's pregnant. And any large blood loss will cause fetal distress, her femoral artery is completely torn and she has a fracture to her skull. We need to keep her frozen or the ICER's affect will wear off, and all the blood will come out rapidly." Simmons looked to Ward before whispering, "She'll most likely miscarry. We need to get them to a medical facility, and fast." She turned to her partner, "We will keep them alive," she choked before rushing to the storage room. Fitz followed her quickly and the two didn't reappear for a while.

Grant turned around and walked out of the lab before punching the black SUV as hard as he could.

"It's not your fault," said May from beside him.

"Isn't it?" asked Ward, "Isn't it all my fault? Wouldn't she have been fine if I hadn't gotten her pregnant? They never should have gone in there without backup."

"Blaming yourself won't help either of them," said Venus as she came to his other side. "They're both stubborn, Serenity even more so than Skye. There was nothing you could do."

It seemed like years before they finally reached a S.H.I.E.L.D. medical facility.

"She was shot in the abdomen twice, at close range, almost two hours ago!" explained Coulson as he helped wheel Skye into the facility.

"And the other one?"

"She was shot in the femoral artery at close range, around the same time. But, she's pregnant," Ward said rapidly.

"That complicates things," said the doctor, "We'll do the best we can."

"I should have stopped her," whispered Fitz, "I should have kept a closer eye on Serenity."

"As if you could stop either of them from doing anything," disagreed Simmons.

"It's not your fault," continued Ward, "I'm Skye's S.O. Serenity is my girlfriend. They are my responsibility."

"The one to blame is the one who shot them," disagreed May.

"It's his fault," Mina agreed angrily, "Ian goddamn Quinn."

Suddenly the doctor walked in and to their absolute horror, explained that Skye wouldn't make it. "You'll need to make a decision whether or not to keep her on life support," she said.

"What about Serenity?" asked FitzSimmons.

The doctor hesitated, "We removed the bullet and stopped as much of the bleeding as we could but we can't stop the swelling in her brain. The fetus is in distress. Her heart rate is too rapid." The doctor took a deep breath, "At this point, the odds are stacked 80/20 that she will miscarry. She may recover… But the fetus is unlikely to." She shifted her position, "You're the father?" she asked towards Ward, who had fallen in grief to the floor. He just stared at her. "I'm sorry. I'm so very sorry." Then, she left.

The Scouts turned to each other, all looking at Mina. "It's the only way," she whispered.

The rest of the group looked at them, including Ward. Ward looked at them in a different way though, in surprise, anger and upset.

Mina hesitated. "What Serenity may not have told you, is that besides guardians of our own planets, we were raised from childhood together to be _her_ guardians, to protect her in any situation. We must lay down our pens."

Ward bolted up, finally understanding, "She would never forgive me if I let you do that."

"What does that mean?" asked Simmons desperately.

"Sacrifice their lives in exchange for hers. She would never let them do it," Ward said with finality, "And I won't let you do it either."

Amy hesitated, "There is another option. There are no guarantees, but there is a chance. By my calculations, her life chances improve to 60/40, and the fetus's to 50/50."

"Do it," Ward said, "Please."

Slowly, a large MedPOD was loaded into the side of the bus, containing Serenity, and containing Skye. May stood outside of the see through room in distress. She had come to appreciate Skye, to respect her, and Serenity just the same. She looked to said room. Ward stood in the room silently, staring at the body that lay on a solid, fixed, stone slab, covered in quartz that jutted out in every direction like a flower. She was inside, unmoving, not breathing, just existing.

* * *

 **March 2014**

"This wasn't part of the goddamn plan, John," said Ward angrily over the phone.

John gave him a sick smile. "I improvised."

"You had my rookie and my pregnant girlfriend shot," Grant hissed, "Why?"

"Gotta light a fire under Coulson's ass, son. And don't take that tone with me, boy. Is that attachment I hear in your voice?"

"No," Grant ground out, "I just don't like when I'm kept in the dark." _And I don't fucking like it when people shoot my pregnant girlfriend._

"Where is that sweet little thing, anyway?" Garrett asked, walking towards where the MedPOD was. "I've only seen pictures but I've heard she's real looker, blonde hair, grey eyes, and an ample bosom. What else could you ever ask for in a woman?"

 _Oh, I don't know?_ thought Ward, _Brawn, courage, strength, wisdom?_ "Well she isn't, at the moment, considering she _almost died_ ," said Grant stressing the last word to make sure that Garrett understood his displeasure.

Garrett turned towards Ward as they looked into the room through the wide window. "It's for the best, son. You'd've been a shit father anyway, after all you had shit for parents." Garrett turned towards Grant, "Girls like her don't end up with boys like you."

Grant fought to keep his face expressionless.

 _I promise you, John Garrett. I will dance on your worthless grave._

March 2014

"Sir, are you sure we should do this? If this is truly where the GH-325 is, we're leading The Clairvoyant straight to it."

Literally, too, since the bastard was on the bus.

Coulson sighed, "If we don't, Skye will die. I will make sure he doesn't get his hands on the drug. We're going to destroy the Guesthouse completely before we leave. And we're going to make sure that he can't replicate the drug by destroying anything that has to do with it."

Grant hesitated before nodding.

"How's Serenity? Any change?" Phil wasn't sure he wanted to know, but he thought that Ward would need someone to talk about. The other Sailor Scouts had been very quiet and withdrawn. They'd been busy fielding calls for the past few hours from people he'd never heard of. And Ward had no one else to support him.

"Amy says that her vitals are improving but the baby-" Grant choked, "Probably won't survive. Amy says that if she loses the baby… We'll never be able to have another. Too much damage, you know?"

Coulson didn't know what to say, so he stayed quiet. His heart broke for the black ops agent before him. He hadn't known Ward very well before they started working together, not like he had known Melinda. He had always been quiet, withdrawn, sort of dark. But after he met Serenity, and the slice of Chaos had been removed, Grant had become a very different person. He was still silently strong, and somewhat arrogant, but he wasn't dark and cocky like he had been before. He smiled, and it seemed to Phil as though Serenity was the light of his life. He couldn't imagine the pain he was in, to know that the life that he and his girlfriend had created together would be snuffed out, and another one would never be able to be made again. And Serenity? He had known Serenity for a long time. She had always been nice, but she had been resolute, hard. When she and Ward had gotten together, he had noticed that she had become happier – more carefree. She had bonded their team together. Skye, Simmons, Fitz – they were all stronger since she had arrived, more sure of themselves. He made a resolute decision

Coulson put his head in his hands, "Then we will make sure that she and the baby survive."

Grant looked up, "What?"

"We will give her the GH-325 too."

Grant didn't argue.

* * *

And that is that! Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Let me know what you thought in a review below. The next chapter is over 10,000 words so just wait and see what happens next! The next chapter should be up on Saturday!


	4. Something

**Hello, all! I am so sorry for the wait on this chapter. I was having internet trouble, and I moved, plus i was working like a dog. Rest assured this story should be complete by this Wednesday, since I will be abroad for six months after that! Love you all, and please enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

 **Act 4.**

 **April 2014**

Recovery was fast, especially for Serenity. They were back in the air, and onto the next mission with ease.

Skye was begging to leave the MedPOD. All she wanted was tequila and a Big Mac, but Jemma wasn't letting that happen. Serenity was happy to lie on her side and watch her friend argue with Simmons. As Simmons left and Skye flopped back onto her bed, Serenity snuck a look out the window before quietly slipping out of her bed and into Skye's and cuddling into her like a cat.

"Hi."

Skye snorted before turning to face Serenity in the bed.

"I just wanted to say thank you again," Serenity said seriously, "If you hadn't used the ICER on me, I'd have lost the baby." She rested her hand on the growing bump. "I owe you everything. I'd make you Godmother but Mina and Callie would kill me, like actually kill me."

Skye smiled thoughtfully, "I owe you, I think, actually. Because since you woke me up the other day with yours and T-1000's smooch fest – ew, by the way- I got to meet Trip."

Serenity smiled, "He's perfect for you. Mina said she smelt love in the air."

Skye laughed, "Really now?"

Serenity smirked conspiratorially, "And you two would make such attractive babies. Blasians are by far the most beautiful mixed-race."

"Yeah, things haven't gotten very far obviously. We've made out a few times. And yesterday he asked me out on a date when I'm finally sprung." They were both silent for a few minutes when Skye spoke again, "Where is everyone anyway? I know you can hear everything on this bus, so help me out."

Serenity grinned, "We have a visitor." Serenity hopped out of the bed and kissed Skye on the forehead. "I'll let you know."

"Hey!" cried Skye in frustration, as Serenity waved to Jemma who waved back and allowed her to continue her way towards the lab. "Why does she get to leave?"

" _She_ is an immortal goddess who was in much better condition than you," said Jemma.

Serenity opened the door to the lab and stepped in smiling at what she saw.

"Lady Sif," she said with a pleased grin.

"Your Majesty," Sif replied bowing deeply. Sif was a proud woman, and she would certainly not disrespect a Queen when she saw one. Sif had been born on Asgard but had been trained with the commanding armies of Mars along with the Duke of Ganymede of Jupiter, Earl Adonis of the Venusian Army, the Inner scouts and the four Warrior Lords that served under Prince Endymion. She had been very good friends with Princess Jupiter but had a strained relationship with the temperamental Princess of Mars, most likely because they had both had massive crushes on Thor back in the day.

Serenity rolled her eyes and hugged her friend deeply. Sif patted her back awkwardly. Sif had never been very good with emotions. Sif took orders, not feelings. "Why are you here?"

"Lorelei," Sif ground out in unmistakable anger. Serenity winced and took a step back to take Grant's hand in what seemed to be a nervous protective manner. To the others, this wasn't a good sign.

"You shouldn't be out of bed, baby," Ward said, "You're not completely healed."

"I'm fine. Jemma cleared me to do a little bit of walking around, as long as I don't over do it."

"Who is Lorelei?" asked Coulson in concern.

"She is a sorceress," Serenity responded, "And while I don't usually use words like this, she's a bitch."

May's eyebrows rose to her hairline.

"She ensnares men and uses them to take power," explained Sif, "She's been in prison for six hundred years until she recently escaped with the invasion of the Dark Elves."

"Only men? Not women?" asked May to clarify what she had heard.

"No. Men have an inherent weakness we do not share," Sif said seriously.

May and Serenity both shrugged in agreement.

"I can't imagine what she's talking about," said Fitz to Grant who stood in his usual crossed armed position. Grant knew better than to reply if he wanted to have sex with his girlfriend anytime soon, and so he stayed quiet.

* * *

"Grant," said Serenity evenly from her bed next to Skye.

"Yeah, baby?" he replied without looking up from his book, _American Sniper_.

"Why aren't you with the team?"

Grant looked up at her with veiled disbelief. "First, because you've been shot, baby, and I'm not leaving until I trust that you aren't gonna run off trying to help someone. Second, this mission is females only, and I happen to be a man."

Serenity cocked a brow, "So you're telling me you're not going to protect my ladies in waiting out on the field?"

Grant hesitated, "It's not like that, baby. I don't want to leave you, and I won't be of much use. Besides, the girls can take care of themselves."

Serenity gave Ward a stern look, "Go help the team. They haven't left yet, and someone needs to have the balls to shoot that rotten bint when she starts up her old tricks again." Serenity leaned back, "And if you think _I_ dislike her, just wait until Mina sees her. She won't be able to control herself."

Grant sighed, "Is there anyway I can convince you that I should stay?"

"No," Serenity replied evenly. "Now suit up and go. And don't let her touch you," she warned, "You may be able to resist her voice, but I doubt you could resist her touch. The only man who ever could resist her was the High Priest of Elysion, and that's because he was a man in face only, if you understand what I'm trying to say."

"Who?" Mina shrieked suddenly from the above deck. "I'll throttle the bitch!"

Serenity sighed, "I told you. Aaaaand," she sang, "If you go out there and do something heroic, I'll suck your cock later."

Ward had a glint in his eyes. Serenity knew she had made him a deal that he couldn't refuse. Even though he was a super special agent, he was still only a man, and men had an inherent weakness women did not share.

Grant nodded in understanding and kissed Serenity softly before leaving to join the team.

"Wow," said Skye as she flipped the page of her trash magazine, "you really know how to turn a robot into a man. Why does Mina hate Lorelei so much?" Skye asked, finally looking up from her magazine in curiosity. She'd become mostly immune to Ward and Serenity's snuggling and kissing and inappropriate banter in the last few days and so she tended to ignore them, especially since Serenity had politely ignored her and Trip's snuggling in the last few days.

"There is a lot about Mina that you don't know," Serenity said mysteriously, "You know that she is the Goddess of Love and Beauty. She was cursed to choose duty over love, worse than me. I was fated to have Ward… but Mina's lover was stolen from her. His name was Kunzite. Kunzite was one of Endymion's guardians. He and Mina were lovers. They were going to marry. Lorelei joined the Dark Kingdom and bewitched as many men of power as she could. Kunzite was one of them. He tried to strangle Mina to death, and eventually put a sword through her chest. She had to kill him, because he meant to kill her and to kill me, and above all, Mina's duty was to protect me. She has Steve Rogers now and she loves him deeply, but she has never been able to get over what happened with Kunzite. Kunzite was her soul mate, and that does not happen often. They had only been weeks away from marriage when we all died."

Serenity climbed out of her bed and into Skye's. "Look at what this says," Serenity said as she applied a base coat to her nails, "Stark proposed to Pepper."

"No way…"

"Yeah. I don't believe that either,"

"Oh but look. Jane's been seen with Thor… Hey, Sere," began Skye as she put the magazine down.

"Yeah?" Serenity responded looking up from her nail polish with wide silver eyes.

"How did you know Ward was the one for you?"

Serenity furrowed her brows.

Skye sighed, "I mean besides the whole fated to be together destiny thing. How did you know that the feelings transcended into him specifically and not just Prince Endymion?"

Serenity gave a thoughtfully look, as she leaned back on the bed they were sitting on together. "I guess it's a few things," said Serenity. "I mean, I knew it was fate so I felt love instantly but it's also other little things, I guess."

"Like?" asked Skye inquisitively.

"Well, like the fact that he rubs my feet – even when I wasn't pregnant. And he brushes my hair for me when I get out of the shower even though it's a pain. And anytime I'm sad he cuddles with me and doesn't even want sex; he just gives me chocolate. And when I used to get my period he drove to the store and got me tampons without complaining. And when he smiles it makes me feel so warm inside and I feel like I can do anything. And when we kiss, I just know I could never feel any happier than I do in that moment."

Skye bit her lip and turned the page of her magazine again. "Oh."

"Are you wondering if you're in love with Trip?" Serenity asked, "Even if you just met him?"

Skye fell back against her pillow, "Is that stupid? That I think I might love him?" Skye snorted, "We've only known each other for two weeks."

Serenity shrugged, "When the heart knows, the heart knows. Besides, I have it on good authority of the Goddess of Love that he feels the same way."

"Yeah?" Skye whispered.

"Yeah," Serenity said back.

* * *

"Agent Ward, you don't want to do this," said May.

"Is this her?" sneered Lorelei, "Your lover? The Queen amongst women?"

"No," said Ward steadily, "This is not her."

"Your pregnant girlfriend is on this plane," sneered May, "And when this is done, I swear you're in for a world of pain, if not from Serenity then anyone else."

Ward's eye twitched slightly.

Lorelei frowned. Serenity? It couldn't be the one she had thought of. She'd been dead for a thousand years. She brushed it off as a common coincidence.

"Lorelei has no plans to let her live," May spat.

Lorelei smirked and opened her mouth as another woman walked into the room, dressed in an orange spandex like suit with a big red bow in her hair. Her mouth moved into a foul sneer. "Venus," she ground out in anger and fear.

"Lorelei," she replied distastefully. "We have some unfinished business, bitch."

Lorelei backed away in fear as Venus advanced towards her standing by May.

Venus narrowed her eyes into slits, "It's on, bitch."

* * *

"I'm not even mad," Serenity said, as she shoved another dumpling into her mouth.

"I can tell when you're mad, baby," Grant said as he sat on her bed.

"Well, really, I'm mad; but not at you. I'm annoyed at Lorelei. I can't fault you for being the lesser sex."

Grant cocked a brow, "Really?"

"Like Sif said. Men have an inherent weakness that we do not share." She bit into a spring roll. "Wow. This Chinese is so good-"

Skye nodded as she stuck her chopsticks into her lo mein. "This was a good decision."

Grant sighed, "It was the least I could do after what happened to get you the Chinese food. But it won't happen again."

Serenity rolled her eyes.

"You should screw up more often, T-1000, if it means I get Chinese," said Skye as she slurped a fat noodle happily.

"You're not supposed to be eating this kind of food, baby. You were shot, and you're pregnant. You need vegetables and protein."

"This spring roll has chicken and basil. That's vegetables and protein."

Grant laughed silently, "That's not what I meant, and you know it," he then continued, "So, since I heroically helped defeat Lorelei…"

Skye crinkled her nose, "You two are disgusting."

Serenity's brow rose elegantly and she proceeded to give him a stern glare, "Grant Douglas Ward. Do I need to remind you that you had sex with someone that I, your pregnant girlfriend personally _cannot_ stand?"

Grant sighed and scratched his chin, "You can't blame me for trying."

Serenity sort of admired his bravery and so she replied, "Just for trying, I'll suck your cock tonight."

* * *

 **May 2014**

Coulson had never been as surprised as when Ward showed up in his office that morning. He'd never missed work, and he was devoted to his job, so to hear him ask for a vacation was very surprising.

"It's Serenity, Sir," Ward explained, "I think she needs a vacation. She swears she's fine but I can tell she needs a break after…"

Coulson frowned, "I could understand why she would feel that way. She's been under a lot of pressure. I don't see why you two can't take a short leave. Is two weeks enough?"

Ward's brows rose in surprise. He hadn't expected Phil to offer a whole two-week break. He had figured they would be pushing it for an extended weekend.

"May and I can drop you off in St. Martin. We're heading over it already. I suppose that you'll take Mina with you for protection?" Phil still felt guilty about the way things had gone down. Skye and Serenity had survived, but he felt partially responsible and the guilt was eating him up.

"That's very generous of you, Sir," said Ward, "I'll let Serenity know."

It turned out that Serenity was ecstatic about a vacation. "I'm so excited!" Serenity exclaimed as she pulled out her suitcase and put in a few dresses and skirts with her big floppy hat.

May landed the plane on a S.H.I.E.L.D. affiliated runway and Serenity and Ward disembarked with Mina following close behind. Mina would be joining them for the trip in a separate space, and had called Steve to join them, hoping that she would have two uninterrupted weeks to spend with her boyfriend.

"Grant," sang Serenity from the bathroom as he put their clothes away in the drawers of their beach side bungalow.

"Yeah, babe?" he called back, pulling off his leather jacket as he opened the door. He was surprised to see Serenity standing starkers in the bathroom, waiting for the shower to heat up. She stepped in mischievously and stuck her head out.

"Want to start our vacation, big boy?"

"Abso-fucking-lutely," groaned Ward as he followed her into the shower.

Shower sex was one of Ward's favorite activities. Sure, he liked all sex but there was something about fucking his girlfriend in the shower that always made the experience mind blowing.

Serenity put her hands on his cock and began pumping it near her belly as her back caught the spray of the showerhead. She moved to stand on her toes but Ward bent closer to her and she kissed him hard. He palmed her breast, which had become very sensitive in the last few months. He moved quickly from her breast to her clit rubbing it slowly until Serenity gasped. Within minutes he had her up against the wall, pounding into her fiercely until she was near tears in pleasure.

They dressed about half an hour later. Serenity pulled on a light pink and white floral tank top and a long white maxi skirt. She put her floppy hat on after she carefully put her long hair back into four buns.

"Can we go to the beach after this?" she asked as she dropped sunscreen and water into her tote bag along with a magazine and some sunglasses.

The two headed to a restaurant on the waterside, and ate a delicious breakfast. Following soon after they headed towards the shopping district.

"Look," Serenity said happily, "This boutique has the cutest baby clothes."

Ward wasn't surprised when she begged to stop in the store and pick out some onesies and dresses for their soon-coming daughter. Her hormones had been wild in the last few weeks. Anytime she saw anything baby related, she lost her mind with excitement.

"And this?" she asked showing him a small floral print baby dress with a matching hat and booties.

Ward sighed and nodded. Serenity grinned brightly before adding it to her stack of baby clothes at the register.

"What do you think about this stroller?" Serenity asked, showing her boyfriend a light pink stroller.

"What kind of name is Bugaboo?" Ward asked with a grumble.

"All the mommy magazines and websites I follow say it's a great investment."

Ward, like many men tended to make decisions based on the price tag and nearly vomited when he saw that the stroller would set them back over a thousand dollars. "You are going to spend me into the poor house, baby."

 _As if,_ Serenity laughed in her head.

After more shopping (he wasn't excited to see his credit card statement this month) and lunch, it was still warm, but the sun wasn't as abrasive. They headed towards their beach bungalow and dropped their packages off. Serenity texted Mina that they were heading towards the beach and she pulled off her clothes to change into her bathing suit. She'd bought a new one while they went shopping, and she couldn't wait to wear it and the lingerie set she packed for Ward later. The sex that they'd been having since they got pregnant was amazing, and until earlier they had gone over two weeks without sex. That was not normal for them.

Serenity stepped onto the beach from their bungalow and waved at Mina who exited from the one next door. The two girls chatted as animatedly as they put their beach towels down on the wooden beach recliners.

"I miss the sea," said Serenity to Mina in Japanese. While both of them usually spoke English, they both missed Japan and sometimes they liked to speak in Japanese when no one else was around.

"Me too," said Mina as she rubbed sunscreen into her legs. "Do you need me to apply sunscreen to your back? And should I have Steve go get an umbrella from the Bungalow? Direct sun isn't good for pregnant women."

"Yeah," said Serenity, "I guess that's a good idea. Grant is ordering us drinks and a few fruit trays to eat while we lie here."

"Too bad pregnant women can't drink," said Mina laughing, "Cause I'm trying to drink bloody marys all day!"

"Yeah?" laughed Serenity as Steve walked towards them with an umbrella and Mina's bag. Clearly the Love Goddess could still keep men whipped. Ward returned only a moment later with their drinks and food.

"Babe," said Serenity as she stretched, "Have you met Mina's boyfriend?" knowing full well that they had never met.

Both men set down the items they were carrying and Ward reached out his hand to greet Steve. "It's good to meet you," began Ward, "I've heard about you from Serenity. My name is Grant Ward."

Steve nodded and replied, "I'm Steve Rogers. It's a pleasure to meet the person who's told us about HYDRA."

Mina smirked at Serenity cheekily as the four of them settled onto their chairs. "Steve?" Mina asked innocently, "Do you mind untying my top?"

Steve spluttered and turned bright red. He'd never quite grown out of his belief in respect for women being deeply intertwined with virginity. He and Mina might have been having sex but the idea of her lying topless on the beach was more than he could handle.

"I just want even tan lines," Mina said as she pulled off her top that Steve had untied. She massaged more tanning oil and leaned back leaving Steve flabbergasted and Serenity laughing silently but also thinking deeply.

Watching the two, Serenity felt a bit sad. She knew that the only reason that Mina was so adamant about turning Steve away was that she didn't want to marry before Serenity. While Serenity appreciated the thought, she mourned her friend's happiness. A husband and child meant loyalty outside of her, and she knew that Mina would never cross that bridge until Crystal Tokyo was real instead of a dream. Mina and Steve were perfect for each other. They balanced each other out, and Steve could only handle Mina telling him 'ask me later' so many more times.

* * *

Two weeks later, Ward, Serenity and Mina were back on the bus and meeting with Coulson. They tended to plot in Phil's office. Coulson, Grant, May, Mina and Serenity sat around his desk; making plans for Garrett's take down.

"Garrett's getting impatient," Grant said, "He wants what was given to you, Skye and Coulson. I'm worried."

Coulson nodded, "You think that he'll try to get the blood from one of us. And in his mind, you have Serenity wrapped around your finger. She would be the one he would try to take."

Grant nodded, "That, or Skye. Before she was arrested, Raina claimed to have information on Skye's father. Garrett may try to tempt Skye with information on her past."

"We know he has an agenda for Serenity. But I'm not sure what. We think that the most likely plan he has, is to use the baby against her. He's going to want to force her into compliance by threatening the baby. And I'll have to remain indifferent to it, or he will suspect that I care more than I've been letting on. And we want to keep my cover for as long as we can."

Serenity rubbed her belly, a habit she had come into now that she was near the half way point in her pregnancy.

"Has he mentioned anything about the missing HYDRA agents?"

"He hasn't noticed. He only noted that more and more agents were being sent on field missions. He hasn't recognized a pattern." S.H.I.E.L.D. had been taking known sleeper agents for HYDRA and kidnapping them on their missions, then storing them in less known places, particularly places that were not in any files and especially not The Fridge. "When HYDRA comes into the light, he's going to want to raid The Fridge, and he'll probably let out prisoners in order to keep S.H.I.E.L.D. busy. And he'll probably want to release Raina. And he'll definitely want to get rid of Agent Hand. He hates her."

Serenity rolled her eyes in irritation, "Tori is perfect. I may be biased because she is my big, but I think I'm a good judge of character."

Mina thought silently before voicing her opinion, "We can trust Steve, Barton, and Romanov to take care of Alexander Pierce and anything else happening at the Triskelion. I put a phone call in to Sailors Uranus, Neptune, Saturn, and Pluto. They'll be doing backup detail with Steve in order to make sure everything goes accordingly."

Serenity paused before interjecting, "And there's more. Chaos is in HYDRA. I know it for sure. Everything about them screams Chaos to me. To sow hate, and discord? Everything about Schmidt says Chaos. But Chaos cannot live in the dead. And the person who shared his vision… Werner Reindhart."

"He's dead," said Agent May, "And he has been for over twenty years."

"But he could have had Chaos in him. And Chaos would have moved easily within HYDRA. That much hate is everything he finds invigorating. And the only way that we can make sure that Chaos is defeated is to infiltrate HYDRA. I think our best bet here, is to pretend you are loyal to him and to pretend your cover with HYDRA isn't broken. You know that Garrett will want me to come with you when you have to pretend to blow your cover. So here's my plan," Serenity began, "What if we protect Skye, you, and the GH-325 by sending me with him?" sensing the protest she knew she would hear, Serenity continued, "Grant hasn't confirmed that I am or am not Sailor Cosmos. Garrett has come up with that conclusion himself. I am technically an alien. I'm not human, so the GH-325 can't be traced in my blood because I'm already sort of alien-like. Amy has been running diagnostics and there is no trace of the drug in my system. If he tries to take a blood sample, he'll hit a dead end. We'll give him encrypted information that's a load of dirt sold as gold."

No one spoke for a moment until May broke the silence, "It's a solid plan. It could work. You can protect yourself, and Grant can protect you."

"But won't he figure out at that point that you're Sailor Cosmos for sure?" asked Mina in concern.

"He already has it in his head. He doesn't know what it means, only that I'm different, powerful."

Grant leaned on his clenched fists, "So you're saying, you want to make him think that you've changed sides because you're in love with me."

Serenity shook her head in affirmative.

"Absolutely not."

Serenity opened her mouth to object.

"You've just told me that Chaos, who apparently has sick obsession with you has infiltrated HYDRA, and you want me to send my pregnant, recently shot girlfriend in?"

"When you put it that way, it sounds worse than it is."

"Nope, it sounds pretty bad from where I'm sitting too," interjected Mina.

"But it could work," said Coulson quietly, "In fact, as long as we can move quickly enough, there is no reason it shouldn't work."

"Always the sound of surprise," sighed Serenity as she cocked her head to the side, "Grant, it's happening. I'll be fine. And you'll be there to protect me."

"I don't like it."

"You don't have to like it. But it's happening."

* * *

 **May 2014**

Everything went to hell a lot faster than they thought it would. HYDRA was brewing chaos. Everything happened so quickly. Their plans went off without a hitch, even though they were forced to initiate them sooner than they expected. Fury was prepared for the takedown and had been slowly gathering intelligence. Soon, Grant found himself on a small plane holding Hand, two guards, himself, Serenity, and his former S.O. Garrett were to be taken to the Fridge. Of course, the whole thing was a ruse. He would shoot Hand, and the guards with the ICER that Fitz had modified to look like a pistol. Then he would lead Garrett to the Fridge, and make sure that the more dangerous items wouldn't leave the Fridge.

He, Fury and Coulson had worked with Sailor Pluto and Fitz-Simmons to develop an area of the Fridge that could only be accessed from the inside and was otherwise indestructible. The only person who could go in and out was Sailor Pluto, which meant that the items were safe. That's where the Inner Scouts would make their move. Mercury, Jupiter and Mars led by Venus would be stationed just outside of HYDRA's line of control at the Fridge, to take down the more dangerous inmates before they could reach civilian population.

Serenity didn't blink as Hand fell to the floor, in what looked to be a dead heap. Three of the four living members on the plane knew that Hand was completely alive, uninjured and simply shot with a very strong dendrotoxin that would keep her still for at least six hours. Ward would 'dispose' of the body alone, allowing for Hand to be picked up by Coulson's team. She would go deep under the radar in order to continue working with S.H.I.E.L.D. without Garrett questioning why she was alive.

Garrett looked at Serenity expectantly. "Isn't this rich?" he asked sarcastically.

Grant stared at him without responding.

"Well, son. Looks like you found yourself a keeper. She's coming with us."

Serenity continued to look at him unabashed. They had predicted this. So far, so good. She followed Ward into the Fridge, careful to stay close to him, more for his peace of mind than her safety.

Raina met them soon after. "This hard drive you gave us is completely encrypted. All three of our teams couldn't crack it."

"You're gonna have to go back and get the girl, son," said Garrett with a sick grin.

"I can do it," said Serenity without inflection. The last thing they wanted was Skye being anywhere near Raina, John or HYDRA.

"What makes you think you can do what three teams couldn't?" asked a tall man.

Grant looked at him in annoyance.

"I know Skye. It's location based. It's probably by altitude. She had to have done it while we were on the bus. Try thirty thousand feet. Thirty is Skye's favorite number." Coulson and the rest of the team had agreed to be careful not to force Serenity and Ward to return to the team for anything that would require breaking their covers for either side. They would look to be loyal to HYDRA, for Garrett but would be careful to make sure that they were actually doing what was best for S.H.I.E.L.D. Anything that could compromise the lives of the team would be studiously avoided.

Grant put a firm grip on her shoulder. He had to look in control at all times, if they were going to sell Serenity as loyal. Garrett looked at them both through narrowed eyes before barking orders to the team nearby.

* * *

 **June 2014**

Pretending to be evil was hard. But it was slowly paying off. Serenity was using her communicator to strategically give information to the Scouts about HYRDA bases and missions in order for them to be preemptively stopped. She herself was moving in close to meeting Daniel Whitehall, one of the most important members of HYDRA. This was the one, Serenity surmised, that most likely was possessed by Chaos. He had to be eliminated, as soon as possible, before he amassed enough fighting power to rise against her.

Serenity woke that morning, in the nude, curled into Grant's side. She looked at the clock next to the bed in the hotel they were staying in for the night. It was six am. They had had sex for half of the night, something that happened far less now that they were in enemy territory. Grant was still asleep, cherishing the precious few times he could sleep more than a wink. It wasn't often they were away from Garrett, and Garrett liked to torture Ward by waking him in the night, and often by not allowing him to be alone with Serenity. It got Grant so anxious that he tended to stay awake all night to make sure that nothing was being plotted against his girlfriend.

This time, Grant had made up the excuse of Serenity needing to see a doctor for her frequent backaches and to identify the sex of the baby. While both of these things were true, neither needed a doctor as much as a break from spying, and some time to themselves. They had traveled to Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital in Seattle Washington. It was about as far from HYDRA as they could get.

Serenity sat up slowly and then stood up, putting on the white lace knickers that had been thrown to the ground the night before. She grabbed Grant's tee-shirt and stretched before massaging her back and stalking into the ensuite kitchenette.

Pickles, carrots and Cheerios sounded really good to her. As she sat down to eat Grant tumbled into the room, looking tired but put together.

"You ready for this appointment, baby?"

"Mhmm," Serenity responded, standing up to get him the eggs for his morning omelet. "It's in two hours. Let's shower and then we can go. Garrett will be suspicious if this takes any longer than expected."

"Any chance I can coax you into a shared shower?" Grant asked as he pinned her to the counter.

Serenity gasped when she felt his hands palm her breast, "Ugh – yes. Every chance."

One of the pros of having a boyfriend who was black ops was most certainly his ridiculous strength. Serenity wasn't at all surprised when Grant lifted her up easily (she crossed his legs around his back as they kissed) and started the shower.

An hour later they were on the road to the OBGYN down the road to get an ultrasound in order to keep their story with Garrett.

"Serenity Queen? The O.B. floor is crowded today, so your exam room for today is in the surgical wing. Don't worry, everything should be just fine," said the nurse behind the desk. They waited for a while before they were seen into the exam room and Serenity rubbed her back before stepping on the scale. 124 lbs.

Serenity threw her head back, "Ugh, 124?"

"It's normal to gain this much weight during pregnancy. I would say by the time you ready for labor you should be at about 135 pounds. Sit tight, and the doctor will be right in to see you."

Serenity gave Ward puppy dog eyes.

"What?"

"Can you pull down my pants for me? I can't see my feet and my back hurts and I can't undo my bra."

Ward chuckled a little and did as she asked.

"My name is Doctor Knox. This is Doctor Karev, Doctor Yang and Doctor Grey."

Serenity cocked her head to the side, "Is there a reason there are so many doctors in here?"

"We're a teaching hospital Miss Queen. Today just happens to be their day on Gynecology."

Yang and Karev both glared at Knox.

The appointment moved fairly quickly. Halfway through the vaginal exam, the doctor gave Ward a knowing look that clearly said, "I know what you did this morning."

He shrugged; Serenity blushed. Doctor Karev left, leaving Grey and Yang with Doctor Knox.

"Would you two like to know the sex of your baby today?"

"I think it's a girl," said Serenity, "Actually, I'm fairly positive it's a girl."

"Yeah?" asked the doctor, "Mother's intuition?"

"Something like that."

* * *

Serenity met FitzSimmons and Mina for lunch. Garrett had directed Serenity to keep her cover, and for Grant to keep his, so their meeting wasn't questioned at all by Grant's former S.O.

"Oh she's adorable! It sort of looks like she's waving!" exclaimed Fitz.

"Can babies wave in the womb?" asked Mina.

"Certainly!" said Simmons, "They move quite a bit!"

"Anything to report?" asked Mina as she slurped up her milkshake.

"Nothing we haven't already discussed. Although I am getting a bit anxious for the Great Freeze."

"Do you think it literally means everything being frozen?" asked Fitz, "Because that seems very hard to believe, you know, that it will just happen overnight."

"I'm not very sure. It could be anything. We won't know until it comes."

"And when is that supposed to happen?"

"Sometime when I'm twenty-two, originally but now," said Serenity, "we don't really know. We don't know anything about it. All we know is it _is_ coming."

"But why's it important?" asked Simmons.

Serenity hesitated, "That's confidential."

Simmons gaped. Now she understood Skye's annoyance with the phrase, "Seriously?"

"Yes. It's Scout business. And sometimes Scout business is not agency business."

"Fair enough," stated Fitz. "But eventually, we will find out." He wiggled his brows.

Serenity shrugged, "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

* * *

 **June 2014**

Grant knew there was something wrong the moment he saw Garrett smiling like the cat who caught the canary. He seemed happy, carefree, unusually unfocused. The GH-325 serum had been messing with him. He'd been crazed in the last few weeks. But it seemed right now, that he was totally immersed.

"You've been summoned, son," Garrett said with a shark-like grin, "A special somebody wants to talk to you."

Grant kept his face impassive but inside he was spooked. "Who will I have the pleasure of meeting, Sir?"

Garrett chuckled, "You can relax yourself around your ol' S.O. boy. I ain't gonna hurt you. You know that pretty young thing you had on that team of yours?"

Ward struggled not to gag, "I'm not sure I understand who you mean. We had a lot of women on our team."

Garrett rolled her eyes, "The chink, kid."

Ward nearly shot him on the spot but acted as understanding as he could, "May? I wouldn't call her young, sir."

"Nah, the other one. Skye no last name hacker-girl."

"Yes, what about her?"

"Her dad's looking for her. And he's ready to meet his baby girl."

Ward couldn't stop the skeptical look that came across his face. Garrett had no vested interest in Skye _or_ The Doctor. So why did he want to reunite daughter and father? Something had to be in it for him. He was about to voice this when Garrett continued, "And I can see by that look on your face that you know that I don't do anything for a good reason. Well, you see, the Doctor has something that HYDRA wants, something very, very special. The Obelisk. And he's willing to trade it for his baby girl."

Ward suppressed his urge to panic. He'd heard about the Obelisk, or as Serenity had referred to it, The Diviner. It had never meant to stay on Earth. He knew because he remembered when it had been gifted by the Lunarians to his people a thousand years ago. Originally, it's purpose was to weed out those who had been given gifts from Elysion so they could be trained to protect from Evil. But, in the wrong hands (literally) the Diviner could be used to kill millions without a thought. It had been a Kree invention originally, and the Lunarians had tweaked it, but it was still very dangerous. They had had locked up where it could do no harm until it could be sent back to the Moon. Unfortunately, Queen Beryl and her fanatics had found out about the object and had raided the Palace to steal it in the middle stages of the rebellion. That had been the beginning of the end for the Moon Kingdom and life as they had known it. It had been lost until Helios of Elysion and his maidens had found The Diviner and hid it in a remote cave, deep underground, protected and enchanted. Clearly, the Diviner had been found by HYDRA.

"That's great news, Sir," Ward said without hesitation.

"So you and your little knocked up girlfriend are going to get the girl out in the open where HYDRA can take her so we can get the damned Obelisk."

Ward nodded, a plan already forming in his mind.

Serenity had been in as much panic as he was. "I'll contact Mina. We have zero margin for error here. If we screw this up, Skye may not make it, and humanity could end too."

"We need to know about The Doctor. The issue here is that we don't know if he's loyal to HYDRA, or if they are just a means to an end. If we can sway him to the other side, he would make a great ally. He certainly cares enough about Skye to be doing all of this for her. But it seems from past interactions that he _hates_ Coulson."

Serenity sat and stroked her chin in thought, "We need Skye to get her powers from the Diviner. She'll be invaluable with them, and without them, the other people who are blessed can and will harm her." Serenity paused thoughtfully, "Coulson is Skye's father figure. He's jealous. We'll have to make her look willing. Willing to come to meet him, but unwilling to join HYDRA. If we can do that, then as Mina would say, the cat's in the bag."

"We need to call Mina," agreed Ward.

* * *

 **June 2014**

They'd planned a pickup location. They'd been regularly meeting for lunch, so it wouldn't be suspicious to Garrett or to Coulson if they planned for a lunch and were abducted from there. Serenity and Grant would pretend to be double agents. To Garrett it would look like his agents were HYDRA pretending to be S.H.I.E.L.D. for the sake of Skye and keeping their cover. Only Serenity, Ward and Skye would know that it would be the other way around. The three of them would be kidnapped together to make their cover look safe. Then, they would meet with Skye's father and plan the rest from there.

"Do you want to go baby shopping?" Serenity asked, signaling to Skye that they were on their way to the location where they would stage the kidnapping.

Skye nodded enthusiastically, walking with Serenity and Ward to the baby boutique next door. HYDRA agents were inside, and all around the store waiting for the moment the drag them from the back and force them into a van that would take all three of them to the base that had been opened in San Juan, where HYDRA had figured out the activation point for the Diviner was. Of course, it was completely bogus. There wasn't an activation point as much as a necessity to have a full moon, the Diviner, and someone to control it and do an ancient ritual at the ritual site. They had the symbolic, somewhat unnecessary ritual site, but didn't have the ritual. If they figured it out (and the instructions were _on_ the Diviner in Lunarian) then they would have a serious issue. Luckily, no member of HYDRA could read Lunarian.

"Oh look at these booties!" said Serenity excitedly. "And this Christening gown!" Serenity turned towards Ward and rubbed her bump (because she knew he was twice as likely to buy her what she wanted if she did) before showing him the small white gown. "Do you like this one?"

Ward wanted to snort but kept a straight face, "I like whatever one you like."

Skye continued her role, "How much is it? Baby shower gift maybe?"

Serenity turned the tag around, "About six hundred," she said, "And it comes with the bonnet." She turned towards Grant, "I want it."

Ward rolled his eyes before walking her over to the register. Serenity smiled innocently and Ward knew he would be swiping his card to pay. "You're so demanding," Ward said with a sigh.

"Mhmm," Serenity agreed, snuggling into his arm, "After this we can go shoe shopping. I saw a gorgeous pair of Manolos in Vogue yesterday that I want."

"And spoiled," he grumbled as he took the bag that was handed to him.

"Ma'am, if you're interested, we have a matching mother's gown to match this Christening gown."

Serenity perked up, "Really?"

"No," said Ward, putting his foot down.

Serenity sighed glumly before rolling her eyes and turning to Skye and using their code word, "Men,"

Suddenly, a HYDRA member leapt out and shot Skye down with a night-night gun, as well as Serenity to make the whole thing believable.

* * *

Skye woke up next to Serenity in a large four post bed. The A/C was blaring, but the room was a comfortable temperature. Serenity was still asleep but looked to be on her way to stirring. A knock sounded at the door, which stirred Serenity from her sleep.

A tall man with a pale brown suit walked in nervously, accompanied by a one Grant Ward. He was strangling a bouquet of white and yellow daisies. This man was Skye's father.

"Er, Daisy?" he said, as both Skye and Serenity stood from the bed. Skye rose quickly, but Serenity moved slowly and with precision.

"My name is Skye," Skye replied belligerently. She had to play to the role, but she was also slightly anxious about that would happen if The Doctor got angry. She had seen his handy work, and wasn't excited to get her pregnant friend killed.

"Right," he whispered.

Ward cleared his throat and ordered, "Serenity, come."

Also engrossed in her role, Serenity waddled toward Ward as fast as she could. But she couldn't ignore the pain shooting down her back.

"We're going to leave them for a few minutes," Ward explained without inflection, trying to keep his cover. "Let's go."

"Yes, Sir." Serenity waved at her friend and started towards the door as she rubbed her back.

"You alright, baby?" Ward asked quietly as soon as they were in their assigned bedroom next door. "You keep rubbing your back."

"It's fine. My back has been hurting all day. I'll be fine. It's been happening for weeks anyway."

"If you say so but if it still hurts tomorrow we'll go to the doctor," Ward responded in doubt. "Let's go check on Skye and her father."

Serenity knocked on the door lightly and smiled when The Doctor opened it.

"I know you," is all he said as he sat back down next to Skye, who was crying.

"Skye?" whispered Serenity, "What's wrong?"

"Daniel Whitehall – he –he killed my-my mother – HYDRA and they- it wasn't S.H.I.E.L.D."

Serenity let out a breath and looked at Ward. While she was sad for her friend, this was the best news that they had heard all day.

"You're the Princess," The Doctor said as he bowed deeply, "I know you."

Serenity took a cautious step back; Ward took a protective step forward. "How do you know anything?" asked Serenity.

"My wife could touch the Diviner," The Doctor whispered, "And they slaughtered her like a pig for it."

Serenity gave Ward a troubled look. If Skye's mother could hold the Diviner, and with her reaction to GH-325, it looked as though Skye would also be able to hold the Diviner, use the Diviner. This meant Garrett would have easy access to someone who could use the mystical object that was fueling his obsession.

"I want revenge," ground out The Doctor as he begun to shake uncontrollably, "for my baby and my wife. He will pay! His blood will be mine!"

Skye started crying again. Serenity took a tentative foot towards her friend before she gasped slightly and looked down. "I-I…"

Ward looked at her immediately and then followed her eyes to a fast blooming stain of bright red blood on the white jeans she was wearing. "Jesus," he swore.

Skye gasped in horror, "You're not due for another three months!"

"I know that!" Serenity cried out in panic and pain. "We need to go right now! I think – I think I'm miscarrying."

The Doctor stood up. "You're not going anywhere. My mission is to destroy HYDRA. All of HYDRA. And that means you, too."

Skye yanked on her father's arm. "They're not HYDRA. They're loyal to S.H.I.E.L.D. They're my friends, and they're part of a ruse. They've been protecting me since the start!"

Ward grimaced as Serenity let out a low groan in pain, "We need to go. I'll contact Amy and Jemma."

Skye stood up and pulled her father up, "Are you coming, or not?"

He paused. "I will come. But, I will kill Whitehall before he kills you."

Ward stroked Serenity's cheek as she opened her communicator and a familiar, mature face appeared.

"Pluto?" Ward asked. "Serenity is losing the baby. We need you all, especially Jemma to be ready for us and to come get us immediately." she groaned deeply and another face butted into the screen.

"What's wrong?" a blonde woman that Ward knew to be Amara asked, "Where are you? Okay, we're coming. MICHELLE!" and the communicator cut just as a huge violet crack appeared.

Pluto stepped out, Garnet rod in hand and beckoned for them all to walk through. Ward picked Serenity up gently and carried her through the portal. The Doctor did so with great suspicion.

The other end of the portal was Jemma's workstation on the bus. Jemma looked up from her task and frowned when she saw Serenity. Then she gasped, "Oh my god!"

"She started bleeding about two minutes ago," Ward stated as he led the group towards the MEDpod. They had kept it in case they needed to use it again. Go figure.

"This is not a good time for this," Ward said, standing next to Serenity.

Serenity just cried hysterically in response. Her baby – the one she had carried for six months – her baby!

"Well, it's as I've suspected. If we don't deliver the baby immediately you will lose her. It would be best to deliver her… although we come upon the issue that it is tremendously unsafe to have a pregnant woman in the air, let alone giving birth. We're going to have to induce you. That's the only chance we have of this baby surviving. I'll inject you now and by the time we get there you should be ready."

Serenity and Ward exchanged a look. "Well, we have a place, but you might not like it."

* * *

 **30 June 2014**

"This was not what I was thinking when you told me you had a place." Jemma said.

"A place," Skye continued, "Is usually an apartment or, you know, a small house."

"A place is not a _palace_ ," finished Fitz as they walked from the transportation room towards the Grand Hall.

Ward and Mina shared a look, "And since your father is here with the Diviner we can give you your powers. There is a ritual site on the Palace grounds."

"I don't want whatever the powers are," stated Skye fiercely.

"You don't understand," argued Mina, "They will come eventually. It's better if it happens here where the change is more controlled, safer. You're closer to the Sea of Serenity, and the stone that is within the Diviner will be much more controlled near the Sea and near the Crystal Palace."

"No," replied Skye firmly.

"This place is _huge_ ," said Jemma finally cutting the tension, "You live here?"

Serenity shook her head as Ward pushed her wheelchair towards where they knew the Queen's Chambers were. She was in pain and they were moving quickly, but it didn't seem fast enough for her.

Mina replied for her, "When she first used the Silver Crystal, _really_ used it and really prayed to my mother, the poison rock of the Negaverse faded away and returned back to its original beauty."

"Why don't I lead you all to the waiting chamber while Ward, Jemma and Serenity are occupied," suggested Luna. The others followed her, mystified by their surroundings. Luna promptly turned around and trotted back into the Queen's Chambers.

"Is that the poison lake or whatever?" asked Skye pointing out the vast glass doors of the waiting room outside of the Queen's Chambers.

Mina smiled and nodded, "That would be the Sea of Serenity. It's not an accident that the lake is this close to the Queen's Chambers." Mina stood and moved to open the doors which caused Skye and Fitz to shriek. Mina rolled her eyes and opened them to reveal a beautiful breeze.

"That goes against science. The moon is not supposed to have air! We shouldn't be breathing!" exclaimed Fitz. "And there shouldn't be a breeze!"

Amy went into science mode quickly, "It's artificial. There is a bubble around the Moon Kingdom that allows it to be habitable by non-Lunarians. Each planet has something similar. On Mercury, we have only half of the planet that is habitable, since the side that faces the sun is too hot to live in. We live with extreme sub-zero temperatures and no sunlight. So, we live underground with false lights and heat that radiates from the ceiling, walls and floor of every building. Even then, it was cold enough to always have to wear thick, heavy wools and furs."

"Venus on the other hand," began Mina, "Has temperatures that are closer to Earth's jungles. It is very hot, and very humid. We have longer days, and a shorter year and we have a very short winter. We tend to wear light colors made of very thin materials."

"Maybe can we discuss this later?" suggested Michelle as she heard a cry of pain from the next room.

Suddenly, May and Coulson broke through the door of the waiting room, accompanied by Pluto. "We came as fast as we could," said Coulson, "I left Hunter, Mack and Bobbi with the Bus. They send their well-wishes."

* * *

In the Queen's Chambers, things were progressing quickly. "You don't have a medic bay?" asked Jemma in concern as she busied herself unpacking the things she had packed in her bag.

Luna gave her indigent look, "Of course we have a medic bay. But every Princess has been born in _this_ room, in _that_ bed, and then promptly bathed in _that_ lake. It's a ritual that will not be broken on my watch."

Jemma spoke again, "Do you want the epidural? I know we sort of discussed this, but you never actually decided."

Serenity groaned in pain, "I want it, Selene do I want it. But I won't take it."

Ward furrowed his brows and allowed her to squeeze his hand, "Are you sure? It's okay to take the epidural."

"It's too dangerous. The epidural will slow me down for days and I need to be coherent at all times, these days."

Simmons frowned in suspicion but they both let it go.

"You're progressing very quickly. In this case, that's a good thing."

"Is she going to be okay?" asked Ward worriedly? "Are they both going to be okay?"

"She's having a very good reaction so far to the medications used to induce. I think as long as we get her out quickly, they should both be perfectly fine."

It turned out that Serenity was only in labor for another two and a half hours. Serenity XXII was born screaming in the Queen's Chambers of Crystal Lunaria. Jemma pulled her out as Serenity fell back against the bed and cried miserably. "Is she okay?" she cried out.

Jemma smiled and handed her the newborn, "Ten fingers, ten toes, and she aced the Apgar test."

Ward considered himself a strong man, but this experience had scared him more than anything else ever could. He sighed a breath of relief and came in close to his family to take a closer look at his daughter. She was breathtaking, just like her mother. Small, pink lips and just a tiny bit of strawberry blonde hair on her head with chubby cherub like cheeks. She was perfect.

She was cleaned off quickly and Serenity held her in arms in relief and disbelief. Before she was to be bathed, she was swaddled in the traditional white chiffon and gauze christening gown that they had purchased earlier. Already healing at an extremely quick rate, Serenity, followed by her entourage brought Small Lady Serenity to the edge of Mare Serenatis and dipped her carefully in the lake. Each of the Sailor Scouts were present, dressed in their uniforms to watch the most important event they would see.

From the sky fell four small globes that flashed with lights and revealed the Amazoness Quartet, dressed in their traditional attire. As any other time something this monumental happened, all of the scouts' formal attire had appeared on their bodies without warning.

White lights appeared across the ceremonial stone baptizing basin that had been used only twenty times before that day. All of the other Serenitys were standing before their ancestor. They were transparent, but still beautiful, all adorned in fine white chiffon and sporting the traditional hairstyle with their silver hair and striking silver eyes.

"She will be as fair as her mother before her," spoke one in an ethereal voice.

"As wise as the woman to raise her," continued another.

"As powerful as the Powers that Be will allow."

"As strong as an Amazoness," cried the fourth.

"As kind as summer," whispered the fifth.

"And as harsh as the winter," agreed the sixth.

"As loving as a maiden," cheered the seventh.

"And as spiteful as the Sea," breathed the eighth.

"As noble as a lion," smiled the ninth.

"And as insightful as the eagle," continued the tenth.

"With foresight greater than the gods," whispered the eleventh.

"And guardians who will guide her journey," shared the twelfth.

"Blessed by those she loves," spoke the thirteenth.

"To be revered as an heavenly angel," sang the fourteenth.

"Worshiped as a Queen," agreed the fifteenth.

"And a leader in her own right," said the sixteenth sternly.

"She will be as graceful as the dove," promised the seventeenth.

"With the song of a nightingale," proclaimed the eighteenth.

"And the elegance of the evening swan," the nineteenth smiled.

And before them was Serenity's own mother, who teared up as her translucent fingers slipped down her granddaughter's cheek, "She will be as beautiful as the waning Moon."

"And," Serenity said, knowing it was now her turn to bless her child, "as fierce as the eternal fire." As soon as the words wore spoken, the Sea swirled and the Silver Crystal came from both living Serenitys' chests, and the Golden Crystal from Ward. Small Lady Serenity took a careful sip of the water fed to her by her mother and the crystal, which had looked similar to glass, let off a glow of rainbow like colors and then settled into the form of a lotus, just like Serenity's, and settled back into her chest. A light as bright as the sun spread across the galaxy. A new Princess had been born.

Everyone was mesmerized. Skye and Jemma were near to tears, and the Scouts were bowing deeply. Vesta, Pallas, Juno, and Ceres stood from their bows, now in their fighting skirts and gathered in front of Serenity and Ward before bowing deeply.

"I, Sailor Vesta, pledge my life to serve Princess Serenity the twenty-second through life and death. I will put her life and happiness before all else, and I pledge to lay down my pen, my life for hers."

"I, Sailor Pallas, pledge my life to serve Princess Serenity the twenty-second through life and death. I will put her life and happiness before all else, and I pledge to lay down my pen, my life for hers."

"I, Sailor Juno, pledge my life to serve Princess Serenity the twenty-second through life and death. I will put her life and happiness before all else, and I pledge to lay down my pen, my life for hers."

Lastly, the strawberry blonde haired one, who was holding her pen said, "I, Sailor Ceres, pledge my life to serve Princess Serenity the twenty-second through life and death. I will put her life and happiness before all else, and I pledge to lay down my pen, my life for hers."

Sailor Venus stepped forward, in her battle skirt and took the Holy Sword from her side. Ceres kneeled, and Venus held out the sword carefully in her hands.

"I Sailor Venus, Hand of Queen Serenity the twenty-first, Princess of Venus, and the Captain of the Royal Queen's Guard call you, Sailor Ceres, Princess of Ceres, to take the duty as the next Hand of Queen Serenity the twenty-second, and the next Captain of the Royal Queen's Guard. This title is the greatest honor bequeathed to anyone in the Galaxy, and as such must be taken earnestly. Will you, Sailor Ceres, take this honor that has been bestowed upon you?"

"I will."

"Then we will begin," continued Venus in a serious voice, with the sword still in front of her. "Will you, Sailor Ceres, promise to lead the Princess's guardians through any danger, and in any battle?"

"I will."

"Will you protect her above all else?"

"I will."

"Will you love her above all else?"

"I will."

"Will you stay by her side, forever, or until you are no longer able to do your duty?"

"I will."

"Will you believe in here as sure as the sun to come?"

"I will."

"Will you lead for her when she cannot lead herself?"

"I will."

"Will you obey each order she gives to you?"

"I will."

"Will you be her sister at heart and in face?"

"I will."

"Will you be her decoy in times of danger?"

"I will."

"Will you be her mentor for her mistakes?"

"I will."

"Will you be her servant for her needs?"

"I will."

"Will you be her friend through all else?"

"I will."

"As Captain of the Royal Queen's Guard, you are the only one who will wield this sword, and the only one not to die from it's poisoned stone. Do you accept this sword and the duty it represents?"

Sailor Ceres stood up, with tears swimming in her eyes, and a small smile on her face. "I do accept this sword and the duty it represents."

Sailor Venus handed her the sword, placing it delicately in her Ceres's hands.

"Then, by the power vested in me, as the Hand of Queen Serenity the twenty-first, Princess of Venus, and the Captain of the Royal Queen's Guard, I Sailor Venus, declare you, Sailor Ceres, Princess of Ceres, the next Hand of Queen Serenity the twenty-second and the next Captain of the Royal Queen's Guard."

The rest of the Sailor Scouts clapped happily, congratulating Ceres and cooing at the newborn babe.

"She's so small!" cooed Juno, "And adorable."

Ceres giggled, "She looks just like you, Your Majesty."

"She does, doesn't she?" answered Michelle.

"She has strong genes," continued Amy.

"And both of her parents are attractive as all hell," continued Mina with a deep sigh, "I need to procreate. I'm too gorgeous not to pass on these great genes."

Raye rolled her eyes, "You have a man, and a fertile vagina. You're the only thing stopping you."

The celebration lasted into the night, but it wouldn't last.

* * *

 **So sorry for the long wait! Please tell me what you think below, and hopefully the next chapter will be up Saturday or Sunday! This story should be complete by Wednesday.**


	5. Power of Love

Well, I did say Saturday, didn't I?

* * *

 **Act 5.**

 **October 2014**

"I'll be meeting with Talbot and the President in an hour."

"I don't want you going in alone," said Ward, as he helped her step into her long white gown. "Christian is dangerous. After the disaster at the United Nations, there is a very good chance you will not be welcomed with open arms."

Mina nodded in agreement, "S.H.I.E.L.D. will never be able to escape association with HYDRA in the eyes of governments and politics. They're using this as a way to garner support for political campaigns by supporting the hatred that the public has been having for the agency."

"I still don't understand why you chose to go as Princess," continued Ward.

"They need to trust me. They need to believe that I have a civilian identity – and this is my only choice. If they ask for proof, I will transform. But we need to keep my identities separate so HYDRA doesn't realize we've infiltrated them."

She combed out her hair, allowing Mina to tie the buns in place with finesse.

"Do you have it?" she asked Mina carefully.

Mina nodded before pulling a crystal box out of her purse. "Trista and I went to the Queen's Chambers and brought back six different tiaras. We think this one is your best option. It's elegant, beautiful, but not too much. It's made of Mercurial platinum with Venusian diamonds and Martian rubies. It was your mother's favorite."

Serenity lifted the crown up in her hands, feeling the cool metal and remembering how many times she longed to wear the tiara as a child. "My father had this made, I remember that very clearly." She looked at Ward in the mirror, "Put it on me, please?"

Ward gave her a soft smile before lifting the tiara and placing it expertly on her head. He then turned to Mina, "Please, give us a moment Mina."

When she left, Ward put his hands on Serenity's bare shoulders. "I love you."

"I love you," she replied, with their daughter fussing in her lap.

"And I know we haven't talked about it, and I know I'm not good at things like this," he said, helping her stand, "But I will marry you, one day."

Serenity smiled and laughed, "You're doing this terribly."

"I know." He knelt down on one knee and pulled out a white box and opened it. "Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

Serenity rolled her eyes, "It freaking took you long enough," she said, giving him her fingers where he pulled off the pink diamond heart ring she had worn and slid on a beautiful cushion cut diamond set in a silver metal with a ring of smaller diamonds around it and down the sides of the ring. In short the ring was beautiful, and she was certain it was Lunarian made. In fact, she was certain that it had once been a wedding ring of someone in her family.

"I asked Mina to bring it to me when she got your tiara," explained Ward as he kissed her nose. "Let's get going."

And although she wanted to gush to her girlfriends about finally being engaged, Serenity knew that she had to make it to the meeting with Talbot and the President and the presidential Cabinet.

She slipped her feet into her tall, silver strapped sandal heels and gave her baby and fiancé one last kiss before allowing Amara and Mina to escort her to the missile-proof Mercedes-Benz parked outside of their hotel. Amara slid into the driver's seat and Mina, dressed in her decoy outfit slid into the next car behind her driven by Michelle.

They were let past the gates of the White House, parking the cars and allowing several armed guards to escort them into the building and towards the Oval Office.

General Talbot was the first to rise, followed by the President and the Cabinet. Amara squared her back, and bowed her heads slightly before speaking, "May I present Princess Serenity XXI, The Archduchess of the Holy Lunarian Empire, Crowned Princess of the Silver Millennium and Protector of the Peace?"

Serenity's training kicked in and she curtseyed lightly, making sure to keep her head high and her chin out. Behind her, she felt Mina, Amara and Michelle all curtsey much deeper.

"How do you do?" she asked politely as she straightened her back and watched the Americans curtsey and bow accordingly. "What a pleasure it is to meet you, Madam President," she said, bowing her head slightly. "And you, General Talbot," she said, extending a hand for him to kiss.

They led her to sit at a long table, where she smoothed out her dress and allowed Amara to pull out her chair and push it back in. She could tell that people were confused when as the rest of the unnecessary staff exited the room, all three of Serenity's escorts remained. She smiled politely, "This is Princess Uranus ruler of the Uranasians and Princess Neptune ruler of the Neptunians. They are here as diplomats for the Outer-rim planets. This is Princess Venus, Royal Hand to the Queen and ruler of the Venusians."

General Talbot frowned, "Is there a reason they must all be present?"

Serenity smiled lightly, "The first two are here as diplomats and advisors. Princess Venus is here as my personal decoy as Hand of the Queen." She gave a firm smile, "They will stay until I leave."

"Well," began the Secretary of State, "Clearly this meeting was called for a reason. Would you like to explain?"

Amara hissed. "You will address Her Highness by title."

"It is quite alright, Princess Uranus. He did not mean to be rude. This is America. There is no Royalty here." She frowned at the men and women around her, "Unfortunately, we are here because of HYDRA."

Talbot visibly sterned his features, "That has nothing to do with-"

"It has everything to do with me," said Serenity patiently, "I am to be Empress of the Holy Lunarian Empire."

"I am just a bit concerned," began the President, "We have never found life forms outside of Earth, and the only reason I allowed this meeting was because I was told that I had to by General Talbot. I would like an explanation. Now."

Talbot shifted in his seat, "Madam President, this is Sailor Cosmos."

The table broke out in chatter. "Silence," commanded the President, "The Superhero, Sailor Cosmos?"

Serenity smiled, "Yes, the one and only. This is my humanoid form," she said, "I was born Princess and gifted warrior status quite by accident. What General Talbot means to say is that you and I are here because I am the ruler of this Galaxy."

The Attorney General scoffed, "This is a free nation. We are led by the people."

Serenity turned a serene smile towards the woman, "Yes, your nation is led by the people. But, this galaxy is mine to protect and care for. I have a vested interest in making sure that the humans are not annihilated like the life forms that were destroyed on the rest of the planets during my mother's reign."

"What does this have to do with HYDRA?" asked the President, "They're a terrorist organization, like S.H.I.E.L.D."

Serenity turned towards the President. "HYDRA has infiltrated deep within the bowels of more than just S.H.I.E.L.D. And that is why I am asking you to call off this witch-hunt against known agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and superheroes. You need their help now more than ever."

Talbot opened his mouth to disagree but she steam rolled on, "In fact, you need their help to weed HYDRA from where it has grown." She turned and looked at one of the Cabinet members in the eye, "Isn't that right, Secretary of Defense Glenn Reed?"

Faster than anyone could imagine, Reed pulled out a gun and shot off a round straight at Serenity which caused everyone in the room to panic and for the Secret Service to run into action. But the commotion stopped when they looked at Serenity who was completely unharmed and levitating the bullets in her hands.

When the Secretary of Defense was dragged out she turned to the Cabinet, "Now are you ready to listen?"

* * *

 **November 2014**

"My job has gotten much easier. That I will admit," said Coulson as they landed the bus. "And I want to thank you again for lending out your home to be the base of operations. The other bases we had were a bit too prison like."

Ward shrugged, "It's not a problem. After we found out Serenity was pregnant we decided to build it in secret. We already owned the land, and we figured it would be nice to have a house to raise Small Lady in."

"Usually when we speak of houses," Jemma began, "They don't have landing pads and cloaking devices hiding the house."

"It's less of a cloaking device and more of a mixture of the powers that we have helping to create a mirage. It's the same technology as what hides the Moon Kingdom on the Moon," explained Venus.

"Still," Skye cut in, "It was very gracious of you and we are all very thankful for your help."

Serenity shrugged, "It's just a house. It is virtually empty. It'd be nice to have a steady, non moving base for operations." She smiled at May, "Not that I don't appreciate your hard work, May."

It took a few weeks for them to settle into the house. While the house was comfortable, and had everything they needed, it was strange for many of the members to have a safe place to sleep. They'd been fugitives from the United States Government for a while and the only thing that had slowed down the pursuit was Cosmos's newfound friendship with the President and General Talbot.

At the end of November, Serenity pulled Skye aside.

"Skye, we need to talk."

Skye furrowed her brows as she sat down on a bar stool at the kitchen's large cooking island, "Is this about Trip? We're being safe. I know we can be loud sometimes, but-"

"No," chuckled Serenity, "It has absolutely nothing to do with Trip. This is about you. I promise it's nothing bad, so relax."

Serenity poured Skye a cup of tea and leaned on the island from the other side.

"I'm sure that after the encounter you had with your father you have been wondering more and more about where you came from."

"Well, yeah. I think about it sometimes. But Cal is a little scary. I know he defected and he's been trying to help but he's still… Unstable."

Serenity shrugged lightly, "But he's also your father."

"Biologically speaking," said Skye, "But Coulson is my dad."

Serenity smiled lightly, "I know that, and I think Cal and Phil do too. But that's another conversation. We need to talk about your mother."

"She dead," Skye said flatly.

Skye had been trying to mask her pain over her mother's death since she had found out a few months before that she had been killed. Skye had only ever wanted a mother, to really understand what it was like to have a mom. She had Coulson, who she considered to be her father. But there was no one in her life that could take her mother's place.

Serenity hesitated, "Sort of."

Skye opened her mouth but Serenity plowed on, "Listen to me. This is going to be a lot for you to take in. So I need you to listen to me fully before reacting okay? First, your mother is alive. Yes, she was killed by HYDRA, but she was sewn back together by your father. Your mother could touch the Diviner. Her power was not to age. But in order to do this, she had to absorb life forces. That means she has to take in other people's life energy. Your father went on a rampage when he found her ripped apart. He took the lives of those people in the prefecture by submitting them to your mother's gift. I have contacted your mother, and she wants you to visit her at Afterlife."

Skye just stared at her. This was too much. She couldn't do this right now.

"I know this sounds crazy and scary but you also have a gift. The Diviner is not traditionally used to open people's abilities. The _mist_ is. Your mother and I believe that you must walk through the mist and be trained with your gift."

"How is this your choice to make for me?" asked Skye angrily. "Why are you telling me this now? Why did you guys discuss this without me?"

Serenity stayed calm, even though Skye was yelling, "We made no decisions except to tell you the truth. It is up to you whether or not you want to walk through the mist. If you do, you will do it at Afterlife, with your mother. She and the other people there will help you learn to use your gift to the best of your ability so that you can control it and use it without hurting others."

Skye huffed angrily, "I can't do this right now," she said before storming out of the kitchen.

Ward entered from the back door with their daughter babbling away in his arms. "She'll forgive you," he said evenly, "She's just confused and scared."

"I know," said Serenity quietly.

* * *

 **December 2014**

Mina was scheming. And Serenity could tell the scouts and Jemma were in on the scheme, as well as the rest of the scouts.

"You've been weirdly quiet, V-babe," said Serenity, "The last time you were this quiet was when you went in for your physics oral."

Mina rolled her eyes, "I think I'm getting a massive zit on my forehead. Seriously, it's lke HYDRA. It disappears and then two more appear."

Serenity gave a disgusted look, "Forget I asked." She marched away. As soon as she was out of sight, Mina opened her communicator back up, "It's perfect. I'll have her there, and ready for six."

"Do you think she suspects?" asked Jemma as the two women left the tailor.

"Not in the least. She and Ward have only been engaged for like a week. But she can't become Queen if they aren't married – so."

Lita fell in step with them. "I've ordered a thousand peonies and fifty pounds of rose petals."

Raye caught up with them, "And I've contacted Helios. He says the shrine maidens have decorated the place in the traditional Golden Kingdom style."

"And Trip?" asked Mina to Skye.

"He explained the plan to Ward. He's all in."

"Okay, now all we have to do is get everything to the shrine, and then convince Serenity to go to Elysion."

Amy smirked, "I've got a plan for that."

Amy's plan went off without a hitch. They lured Serenity to Elysion by having Helios contact her and explain she was urgently needed. In her fighting skirt, she arrived at the transporting point of Elysion only to see all of her friends around her. She gave a confused look and opened her mouth to speak but Mina quickly cut her off.

"Come on, Sere. I've got two hours to dress you up for your wedding."

Serenity gasped as the girls dragged her to an antechamber where Mina forced her into a rosewater tub, did her hair, painted her lips and cheeks and then pulled her hair back in four buns with small curls falling around her head like a halo. She placed a silver toned diamond tiara on her head and pearl pins around her buns.

"Are you ready to see your dress?" Mina asked quietly as she pulled out the dress bag. When Serenity nodded nervously, Mina and Skye zipped it open and pulled out a white lace dress with a v-neck line and long sleeves. It had a natural waist with a full skirt and a long train. It was everything Serenity had ever dreamed of. She started crying.

"Stop crying!" ordered Raye, "You'll ruin your makeup."

The girls laughed and pulled on their own dresses. All of them wore silver and white floor length gowns with black and white beading on the bodice. Each gown was different but they were all styled in the same shade of silver.

"I never thought I would have ten bridesmaids," Serenity said with a watery smile. They all cooed and there were tears, hugging and more tears.

Finally, Mina gripped Serenity's hands tightly. "They're ready. Are you ready?"

Lita shoved a large bouquet of red roses and white roses garnished with baby's breath. Raye dabbed at Serenity's lips one last time, and Hotaru smoothed out the back of Serenity's dress.

Hotaru, acting as flower girl left the room with her peonies first. They left one by one until it was just Mina and Serenity.

"I have the ring. I have your vows. You're getting married," whispered Mina with tears in her eyes as they touched their foreheads together. "You're getting married!"

They hugged fiercely. "This won't change anything, Mina."

"Nothing," agreed Mina. "We'll still have our dance parties, and drink tequila, and have sex with boys – but it'll be your husband instead."

"And skip important events, and go raving, and clubbing."

"And fight evil in kickass shoes," Mina said as the two smiled deeply.

"You've been my best friend since day one," said Serenity seriously. "I don't have a memory from my childhood where you are absent."

"You may be my Princess," said Mina, as she held Serenity's hands in hers, "But if this were all different, and were weren't royalty, or sailor scouts or gods… I would still want to be your best friend. And you would still be my best friend. You are the most beautiful woman in this world. Your light – it blinds me. You blind me, Serenity. You make this world a beautiful place to live."

The two girls started crying again, "Now go get married!"

Mina hugged her tightly before meeting Trip and walking with him down the isle. She nodded at Amara and Michelle who had been sitting prepared by their instruments as she cleared her throat. Serenity was coming.

"Dreams are like angels.

They keep bad at bay

Love is the light

Scaring darkness away

I'm so in love with you

Make love your goal

The power of Love

A force from above

Cleaning my soul

Flame on burn desire

Love with tongues of fire

Purge the soul

Make love your goal

I'll protect you from the hooded claw

Keep the vampires from your door

When the chips are down I'll be around

With my undying death defying love for you

Envy will hurt itself

Let yourself be beautiful

Sparkling light, flowers and pearls and pretty girls

Love is like an energy

Rushing in, rushing inside of me

The power of love

A force from above

Cleaning my soul

Flame on burn desire

Love with tongues of fire

Purge the soul

Make love your goal

This time we go sublime

Lovers entwined divine, divine

Love is danger; love is pleasure

Love is pure, the only treasure

I'm so in love with you

Make love your goal

The power of love

A force from above

Cleaning my soul

The power of love

A force from above

A sky-scraping dove

Flame on burn desire

Love with tongues of fire

Purge the soul

Make love your goal

Make love your goal"

As she stepped towards Ward, Mina's voice fell away and she suddenly realized that this was real. She was marrying Grant Douglas Ward, forever. And it seemed like Ward had had this realization as well.

Helios smiled at the two of them before pulling out book with an unreadable language out of his robes.

"Today, the fated pair will marry in the eyes of the Powers that Be. Prince Endymion VII of House Goldenborne Crowned Prince of Terra, Duke of Elysion, Earl of the Valley and Lord Protector will marry Princess Serenity XXI, vi Lunaria, Archduchess of the Holy Lunarian Empire, Crowned Princess of the Silver Millennium, Protector of the Nine. We are here to bare witness to the marriage that was fostered from love one thousand years ago. By the Graces of Above, do you swear that you enter this Blessed Union by choice?"

Both Ward and Serenity nodded their heads in the affirmative.

"Would His Highness favor a reading of his vows?"

Ward cleared his throat as Trip produced a small folded piece of paper. "Serenity Illyria Ascella Zaniah the twenty-first vi Lunaria… Words are meaningless to describe how I feel about you, but I will try. When we met for the first time, both of us were young and kind of stupid. We fell in love, and our love was cut too short. I lost you. I've half loved you for half of my life. And I'll whole love you for the rest," he swore, "Because there is nothing in my life as important and meaningful as our love. It isn't fleeting – it is real, tangible. And that is why I have prepared these wedding bonds today." Ward shifted positions and Trip handed him the Lunarian platinum band he had prepared, which looked like a floral vine glowing and moving in an eternal circle. He slipped it on her finger and looked her in the eyes as he said, "I give you love, happiness, joy, patient, reverence, worship, passion, respect and honesty." Each word brought out a new band of colors that seemed to connect from the ring and wrap around Ward's forearm in a solid, tangible beam of light.

"Would Her Highness favor a reading of her vows?"

Mina passed at piece of paper to Serenity who smiled gently before beginning to speak, "Love is a many splendored thing. Today, I have decided to bind myself to you for more than just love. All of my happiest memories include you. When I am unsure of myself, scared I turn to you and you support me through making my own decisions. A man like you comes only once, Endymion. And I will not make the mistake of letting you slip through my fingers."

Mina handed her the ring, a plain, masculine band and she slipped it on his finger while she continue to recite her wedding bonds. "I will give you love, happiness, simplicity, passion, intelligence, kindness, respect and piousness." Just like before the bonds became tangible.

Helios smiled and continued, "Will his Highness take this woman to be his holy wife and Queen?"

"I will," Ward replied without hesitation.

"And, will her Highness take this man to be her holy husband and King?"

"I will," said Serenity.

"Then, as High Priest of this Heavenly Church, I pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Ward smiled a little and then leaned in for a kiss. As their lips touched there was a soft white glow, and all present cheered in happiness.

They were finally married. Celebrations went into the night.

* * *

 **December 2014**

"How did he find out?" screeched Mina angrily.

"We don't know," said Coulson, "Ward and Serenity are trying to fix it."

"I don't know how you trust them," Mack said in annoyance, "Maybe if you didn't put all your eggs in a basket that is usually held by HYDRA things like this wouldn't happen."

Mina turned towards Mack and snarled, "What the hell did you just say?"

"Yeah, Mack," said Fitz. Fitz and Mack were good friends now. Fitz and Ward had become close friends after the changes in their team, but now that Ward was usually away with HYDRA or with his wife and baby, Fitz had become closer to Mack. "Serenity and Ward are both very trust worthy. They would never give up information like this to HYDRA. They know the risk that the Diviner poses."

"This is going to get ugly, fast," said May, "Wheels up in five."

Skye and Trip shared a look. Raina and Garret. Everything always came back to them. "How did they manage to decrypt the ritual information on the Diviner?" asked Skye as they raced towards Puerto Rico.

"I have no clue," said Mina. "My only guess is that Whitehall was influenced by Chaos. Chaos would know Lunarian, and would know the ritual. He was there after all."

"Who?" Bobbi questioned in confusion.

"No one," said Amara coldly.

Bobbi frowned. Amara and Michelle had never been anything but cold to them, and it made her wonder if there was something she didn't know. Not that she would be surprised if there was, since Coulson was no better than Nick Fury had been. That was why she supported Gonzales.

"We should arrive within five hours," said May. "Serenity and Ward are already on scene. They said that Raina has found the temple and that HYDRA is on the move. They should arrive around when we do."

"Then let's try to get there faster," said Mina, "HYDRA is planning something, that's for sure."

"When we get in there we're going to need to put a team together to go into the ritual site," pointed out May.

"This is unexplored technology," said Jemma anxiously, "We don't know what may or may not work down there."

"I'll go," said Skye suddenly. Coulson opened his mouth to protest but she cut him off quickly. "I can hold the Diviner. How else are we going to be able to get it back to where it belongs? Someone needs to be able to bring it back, and that should be me."

Mina narrowed her eyes, "You aren't the only person here who can hold the Diviner. I can hold it too. You shouldn't go in there half cocked." While they had been getting better, and Skye had been happy enough at Ward and Serenity's wedding, they still hadn't spoken and Mina felt the need to act offended on behalf of her cousin.

Skye sighed, "Listen, I know I was a bitch-"

"That's for damn sure," Mina mouthed back, "All she was trying to do was help you and you threw it back in her face. If you had just listened and made an educated decision in the beginning we might not be in this situation!"

"Don't yell at her," said Trip angrily.

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Mack angrily.

"It means that the only reason that Whitehall has the Diviner in the first place is because Skye's father traded it for a chance to meet her. If you had just listened to us and thought rationally before mouthing off at him _multiple_ times to push his buttons, HYDRA wouldn't have a weapon of mass destruction!" screeched Amara, "And Serenity and Ward knew this! But did they listen to me? No! 'Skye is hurting' they said 'she needs time' they said. Well, I'm calling bullshit!"

"Weapon of mass destruction?" gasped Hunter.

Skye opened her mouth to retort angrily but was cut off by Fitz, "Stop fighting! This isn't going to help us any. It's no one's fault okay? We're a team. Teams work together!"

"I'm sorry. Did you say weapon of _mass destruction_?" repeated Hunter anxiously.

Setsuna turned towards Hunter, "The Diviner hold a crystal that begins a reaction of mutation in those who have the necessary gene code. If anyone who does not have this gene code touches the Diviner, or the crystal incased, they will die."

"But if it needs physical touch-" began Bobbi.

"It doesn't work that way," said Michelle, "The Diviner is only a housing for the crystal inside. If the housing is taken off, and the crystal breaks or pieces come off in shards, the power of the crystal becomes airborne. It could spread across the world and kill millions before it's stopped."

"And how do we stop it?" asked Fitz, "Do we even have technology that can do that?"

"No," said Setsuna gravely, "No mortal can stop the teregenesis."

* * *

 **January 2015**

As it turned out, things could not have gone any worse in the temple. Mack had been taken over by some sort of alien virus. Skye had run after Raina into the temple to try to get the Diviner back. She had felt partially responsible, which had led to Trip running after Skye desperately to protect her from Raina and possible dangers in the temple. Just as the stone walls of the ritual site closed, the ritual began and before her, Skye watched as the man she loved crumbled to a pile of ashes.

It was at that point that Serenity put her foot down and firmly insisted that Skye leave the team to be trained at Afterlife.

"I'm not doing this as a punishment," said Coulson, "But you need to learn how to control your powers and we can't help you do that here. You need to learn how to do that with your mother."

Serenity touched Skye's arm lightly, "No one is punishing you. But you are putting yourself in danger each day that you go without training. There are other forces at work which would seek to hurt you and people like you."

Skye frowned deeply and gripped her bags tighter. "I know that it isn't a punishment, but it doesn't make it feel like any less of one. It's my fault that Trip is dead and it's my fault that Mack is acting weird."

"It's no ones fault," disagreed Serenity, "It is life. Now, Sailor Pluto is going to take you via portal to your mother. She's waiting for you and she's very excited to finally meet you."

"I'll miss you guys," said Skye in a small voice, "And for what is worth, I really am sorry. I know that saying I'm sorry doesn't really mean anything because it's just a bunch of words… But if I could do it all again I would have listened to you. And I'm sorry I was so rude to you before. I don't have any excuse. Friends?"

Serenity hugged her friend, "Friends. You don't need an excuse. You were going through a hard enough time. These things happen." Serenity paused and stepped towards the door, "I'll let you and Coulson say your goodbyes."

* * *

 **March 2015**

January passed by without any change, as did February. Mid March, Skye returned from her training in full control of her powers with a friend named Lincoln in tow. After Small Lady was born, Skye's exposure to teregenesis and Trip's death there was more tension than ever on the base. Most of the Sailor Scouts had left to go back to their different professions until they were needed again. Only the outer scouts and Mina still took up home in Queen Manor. Without the buffer of Raye, Lita and Amy, there seemed to be more friction between Amara and Michelle and Bobbi and Mack. Amara found Mack to be rude and disrespectful, and since the new members of the team didn't know anything about their real identities as Sailor Scouts, they tended to clash.

Skye had expected to be welcomed with open arms by her friends and team mates who were as close to a family as she had, so she was surprised when the team began to blow up in argument over her return as well as her powers.

"You said she was off getting training!" yelled Mack. He had never cared for Serenity. When he, Bobbi and Hunter had arrived on the team she had always been cool with he and Bobbi compared to the warm, radiant way she spoke to the other members of the team. To find out she and Coulson were lying – well it just became the icing on the cake.

"She was," said Coulson evenly, "I just didn't say what kind."

"You could have specified it was the alien kind," said Bobbi, "That would have been helpful."

"It wasn't your place to know about it," said May without inflection.

"Wasn't our place?" hollered Mack angrily. The incident in Puerto Rico had really changed him. He hated all things alien, and he already hated all things Coulson, and Skye was both of those things.

"It wasn't," said Serenity, "It was none of your business."

"She's on our team. We had a right to know that she was part alien," replied Bobbi.

"Oh relax," said Hunter, "We've known Skye since our start here. She's never done anything against us. You all are acting like she would hurt us."

"Like she hurt Trip?" asked Mack sarcastically.

FitzSimmons gasped, "That was low!" exclaimed Jemma, "and mean and unnecessary."

"Why would you even say that?" asked Fitz, "Skye lost more than anyone else when Trip died."

"Then why did she bring a man back with her?" Bobbi said crossly, "If she's so cut up about Trip dying, why does she have a new boyfriend?"

"That's enough!" yelled Coulson.

"Stop fighting," continued Serenity, "You're acting like a bunch of children."

"Oh yeah, blondie? What gives you the authority to command anything? You don't do crap around here. You're not an engineer like Fitz. You don't have medical training like Simmons. You have no weapon skills like Bobbi. You can't fly a plane like May. You're nothing but Grant Ward's girlfriend who he happened to accidently knock up."

If Ward had been there, and not out on a double agent mission with HYDRA, he probably would have killed Mack right there. Fortunately, Amara and Mina were there instead.

"What did you just say?" hollered Amara.

"Take it back right the hell now!" shrieked Mina.

"Nobody disrespects Her Majesty on my watch without losing a limb or four!" Amara continued. She pulled out her jeweled blade and twisted it in her hands, "Did you know I once flayed a man without a single drop of blood falling?" she threatened.

"Amara, Mina, _stop_."

"No!" replied Mina, "We won't. He's been nothing but disrespectful and deceitful since the start!"

"Disrespectful?" snorted Bobbi, "You never welcomed us here in the first place."

"She and the other blonde one are always sneaking away to do God knows what! She's probably a traitor!" yelled Mack.

When Mina raised a fist, Serenity stood up straight and directed her full authority at the scouts in front of her, "I am telling you to stand down. That is an order."

They did – but with reservations.

"We have not been truthful with you," said Serenity, "Because we don't trust you."

"We've risked our lives for this team, for S.H.I.E.L.D. and you don't trust us?" questioned Bobbi.

Mina crossed her arms and put a stern look on her face. "Have you?" she asked, "Well then – Bobbi, Mack – tell us all what you're really doing here. And don't leave anything out. I'm sure Lance and the rest would love to know."

Hunter knit his brows together in confusion. "What is she talking about?"

"They work for S.H.I.E.L.D.," Michelle said evenly.

"We all work for S.H.I.E.L.D.," said Jemma.

"They work for the _other_ S.H.I.E.L.D. You didn't think that the one that Phil heads is the only one?" answered Amara with a laugh.

"Bobbi and Mack are spies. For the other S.H.I.E.L.D. The one that wants to kill Agent Coulson."

"I'm sorry – what?" asked Skye.

"Kill Coulson?" asked Fitz, "As in _this_ Coulson. Standing before me?"

"The exact one," said Mina, "Only us Coulson, May and Ward know. But since we knew, we didn't and still don't trust you. You never wondered why there were nine girls sitting around on the base? Why Serenity is here?"

"She's Ward's girlfriend," said Hunter in confusion.

"Sometimes I forget that you guys arrived here less than a year ago," said Jemma, "Serenity is the most talented specialist on the team."

Bobbi looked at May expecting her to make a face but May's only reaction was a solemn nod.

"Serenity trained Skye. Mina trained me," Jemma continued, "She was level 9 before S.H.I.E.L.D. was dismantled."

"What she did then doesn't mean anything for what she doesn't do now," insisted Mack stubbornly.

Fitz frowned, "Serenity and Mina extracted Ward and I from the South Ossetia mission. They leveled the place on their own in less then five minutes.

"And she's been undercover at HYDRA for over a year feeding them faulty information and bringing information back to S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Stop," said Serenity, "Singing praises for me to someone who doesn't want to hear it. They don't care." She looked at Bobbi and Mack and straightened her back, coming to her full height. She smiled gently then Serenity pulled her broach from her pocket and whispered, "Cosmic Moon Power!"

In a flash of silver light, she was Sailor Cosmos.

Where there had been a plain but beautiful woman was now a goddess. Long sheets of silver hair framed eyes that looked like molten platinum. She was tall, with a certain air of grace. And she radiated a cool power. Bobbi and Mack were terrified.

"I am Sailor Cosmos, Queen of the Stars."

Hotaru spoke gravely "Sailor Cosmos is the bringer of life. She protects this galaxy. She brings love, joy, peace, happiness and light wherever she goes. She breathes life into the dead."

Mack, who was still angry, and hurt gave her a stony look. "This is a hunk of shit. I oughta beat you down for disrespecting us all enough to think we would have fallen for that. What about all the good agents that died? Did you breathe life into them?"

Cosmos put an arm in front of Amara, who she knew would start up again. "Skye, do you remember any of what happened in the temple?"

Skye hesitated before answering, "Yes."

"So you remember Trip dying?"

Skye frowned, not wanting to think of the tragedies of that night, "Yes."

Suddenly, from a dark corner, Trip appeared.

"What the hell!" shrieked Fitz.

"Has he been here the whole time?"

"You told us he died!"

"He did!" insisted Skye, running towards him.

Cosmos folded her arms in front of her, "He did die. But I brought him back to life because Fate told me that it was not yet his time to die."

"You brought him back to life?" whispered Hunter.

"That's impossible," said Bobbi, "It's a trick – like with Agent 33."

"I've been away for the last few months," said Trip. "Coulson and I thought it best if I helped out the Cap with his missing person problem."

"How's that going, by the way?" asked Coulson discreetly.

"It's going."

Mina stood to her full height and steered the conversation back. "They have power – we have power- beyond mortal understanding. Nothing is impossible. If it is her desire, it is to be."

"So, if you desire to kill us all?" asked Mack angrily.

"My only desire is for us all to live long, happy lives with love and peace."

"That's bull!" he said angrily, "How do we know that?"

"Because I am the holiest being in this universe. I am the Messiah of Light, the Queen of Stars."

"Well I'm the Queen of England!" exclaimed Mack.

There was a lot of arguing and fighting for the next few hours. It took a lot for Mack and Bobbi to believe that Serenity was a force for good, and even more for the rest of the team to trust Bobbi and Mack again. They didn't trust Coulson, and Coulson trust Serenity. Finally they were finally swayed when they witnessed her perform the most beautiful healing, cleansing, pure white energy that they had ever felt.

* * *

 **May 2015**

"You're sure?" asked Coulson.

"Absolutely positive," affirmed Serenity. "Raye is never wrong."

"Then we need to leave – now," said Trip.

May stood up to leave for the cockpit before Serenity stopped her.

"No," said Serenity, " _We_ aren't going anywhere. You all are staying here and the me and the scouts will handle this."

"Are you joking?" asked Jemma furiously. They were a team. You don't leave your team behind.

"Well, Skye can come too," said Serenity firmly, "But only because she has her powers."

"We can help!" exclaimed Fitz angrily.

"I know you could," said Serenity. "But this isn't your fight. You're all great agents and you're excellent at your jobs but you aren't at this level. Ultron is more than just evil. He isn't human and that makes his actions unpredictable. We need to be prepared for the worst possible outcome and he will target you for being mortal."

"So you're saying we can't take care of ourselves?" asked Mack sarcastically. While they were getting along somewhat better these days, Mack still didn't care for her or her team.

"Not at all," said Setsuna calmly. "We're certain you can take care of yourselves. But you are mortals, and mortals die. When mortals die they tend to stay dead, save for a few rare circumstances. There is something at work here that we have yet to fully understand."

They all looked at Trip.

"I can't believe this!" exclaimed Trip as the girls disappeared. The others agreed with him in annoyance.

"I'm the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.!" exclaimed Coulson, as if that said everything. In some ways, it kind of did.

Ward finally turned towards the group, who had forgotten that he was there. "You don't have a right to be angry." In truth, Ward wasn't upset about being left behind at all.

Jemma gave an affronted look. Of course he would side with Serenity. They had a child together.

"She's right. We don't know what's going to happen when people who are enhanced are involved. They have advantages that we don't have. If the Avengers were having issues keeping this Ultron at bay, what makes you think that you would be able to leave this confrontation unscathed? If it's as bad as Raye is making it out to be, we're all in a lot of danger." Then he paused, "If we were told not to come, there was a very good reason for it." Then he stalked away, leaving the team with things to think about.

* * *

"How soon to the destination?" asked Jupiter as they raced across the globe at infinite speeds.

"By my approximation," said Mercury, "About 45 seconds. Our target area is only about two hundred feet wide so we need to prepare for a drop landing."

Mina groaned. "Okay. Give us a ten second count down and everyone be prepared to break formation."

As they spun, they could see in the distance that there were something big happening. Cars were leaving and smoke was rising in large quantities.

"10…" began Mercury. The rest of the scouts prepared, ready to break formation at a moment's notice. "3… 2… 1…" The girls all let go of each other's hands and began falling towards the Earth at rapid speeds. They all landed safely but in the middle of gunfire.

"Who's ready to slay?" yelled Mars as she pulled out her fire sniper.

"Couldn't be happier," said Venus as she pulled her chain from her hips and snapped it like a whip in front of her.

"Mars, take the vantage point," Cosmos directed authoritatively, gliding seamlessly towards the center of the city, "Mercury, Neptune, Pluto help evacuate the people. The rest, fight." She crouched and then used her momentum to take off into the sky, jumping across buildings towards the center of the commotion.

Iron Man saw her first. "How'd you know to come?" he asked, as he threw a commlink at her and then left as quickly as he came. She caught it easily and plugged it into her communicator watch so the entire team could communicate.

"We could use your kind!" yelled Hawkeye as a red haired woman burst out of a building and took down a robot with a red flame.

A robot came towards her from behind and without looking, Cosmos turned around and used her staff as a weapon. She spun it then shoved it through the torso of the robot and than swung it around to wipe the head clean off.

"Who is this?" asked the red haired women in a thick accent. She may now accept that she was part of the Avengers, but that didn't mean that she trusted everyone that they trusted, especially not a woman who looked about as human as Ultron.

"She's an ally," explained Hawkeye as he shot an arrow off. That seemed to appease the Scarlet Witch somewhat, but she remained skeptical.

"I am Cosmos," she said evenly, "And my team has come to save you from certain destruction."

At that moment, Ultron appeared, his massive form looming in front of Cosmos who looked unafraid. "Leave," she intoned to Hawkeye and the Scarlet Witch who left quickly to continue to fight.

Ultron seemed to study her critically. Of course he knew of her. He knew everything that Stark knew. "I thought you would agree with my mission."

"You thought incorrectly," said Cosmos tonelessly.

"I only wish for the human species to evolve."

"They are humans. They evolve slowly."  
"It must happen faster," Ultron insisted.

"It will happen when it is meant to," Cosmos disagreed, standing her ground with certainty. "Humans, while amazing creatures have faults. They kill, they torture, they cannot tell the difference between right and wrong and they seem to believe that the world exists in two extremes of good and evil, that the light and the dark are somehow separate entities and not shades of grey. Humans are creatures that die.

"They are born, they live, and then they die. They have no other purpose except to be. They go through life knowing that one day they will fall asleep and that they will never wake, that they are living their lives in knowledge that death could be moments away. They are strange, strange creatures.

Cosmos cocked her head to the side and continued, "I am not human, and neither are you and to us humans may seem pathetic, uncultured and weak. But it is those same faults that are their strengths. When they want something, when they truly want something more than anything, they fight. They don't give up, and they continue to fight until the battle has been won. They persevere through tragedy, and death and chaos and they survive. So, while they are slow and they have yet to realize their true potential, they are beautiful in their own special way, and that is why it is my duty to protect them."

"Then you are my enemy," said Ultron without anger, just fact.

"I am no one's enemy," disagreed Cosmos again, "I am the Keeper of Balance. You have threatened to tip the balance, and that cannot be allowed."

The two parted ways, Cosmos because she knew that it was not her duty to defeat him, Ultron because he knew that he would lose.

The battle lasted for hours. It seemed like all hope would be lost when they realized there was no safe way to get the meteor to Earth.

"I cannot interfere in the outcome and backlash of this," said Cosmos over the comm. "I can only help to save civilians and destroy the robots."

Pluto was opening portals left and right to help civilians to safety. The air was starting to get thin. Cosmos and her crew had been taking down enemies left and right and it seemed as though they were in their final moments.

"Have you found a way to shut it down?" Hawkeye cried into their comms.

Stark was silent for a moment, "Yes. But there's a chance that maybe Thor and I don't walk away from this."

Cosmos decapitated another robot from their ring around the detonator in the church. "You will have the help of me and mine, Iron Man."

"Healing ain't gonna help us today, Cosmos," said Romanoff as she fired a round of exploding bullets.

"There's nothing to heal," growled Cosmos as she exerted her full physical strength to rip a robot completely in half. "If I can land a meteor going the speed of sound through the Earth's atmosphere I can help with this."

"Thank god Fury showed up," said Venus as she sent her crescent beam through her enemies, "We need to get the last of the people to safety."

Cosmos nodded jerkily, "Scouts! We must guide the civilians." She looked towards The Vision, who had been watching her closely during the battle, "Can you look after yourselves?"

He spoke in the affirmative. Cosmos and the scouts started to head away from the Church, destroying Ultron's forces as they walked towards the lifeboats.

"Mercury, I want a scan of the buildings. Are there any more civilians that are not already boarding the boats?"

Mercury looked through her visor and squinted around her. "I'm picking up readings of life forms on the 6th, 12th, and 4th floor of these three buildings respectively."

Neptune nodded jerkily and raced towards the first building, followed by Jupiter and Saturn who headed towards the other two.

"They're trying to escape!" someone hollered through the comms.

Cosmos narrowed her eyes.

"Venus, Mars, Uranus, take out the strays. I have one last duty before the Avengers leave this rock." Cosmos spread her wings and jumped from the side of the falling city towards where she knew that Iron Man was desperately trying to save the city. She found him right where she expected.

"Tony," she said evenly.

Iron Man turned towards her for a brief moment before going back to what he was doing.

"I won't try to stop you, but I need you to work and listen to me at the same time." She didn't wait for him to respond, "I know that you think that this is your fault. I understand why you think that, and in some ways I do agree that you are partially to blame for what has come to be today. But the deaths that Ultron has caused are not your fault. Those deaths belong to him and only him."

"But I designed him!" Stark choked out.

"Yes," agreed Cosmos as she nodded her head stonily, "And so did Dr. Banner. And me. And Hitler. And Adam and Eve. Ultron behaved the way that he did because he behaved like a human. He thought and acted like a human. He is not you, Tony, opposite of what you believe him to be, he is not you." Cosmos touched his back lightly, "Now, let us save Sokovia and save the world."

* * *

I left a hint in there about the final show down. And I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter.


	6. Aniron (I Desire)

Wow! I can't believe we're at the end of the road! This is the final chapter and epilogue. After this, the story will be officially complete. I hope that this is the big thing everyone is waiting for. Please leave a review, because they make me so so so happy and I haven't gotten any on this story so far. Lots of love from me to you! -G

* * *

Act 6.

June 2015

"Disney," insisted Serenity.

"Absolutely not," said Ward.

"Every child deserves to go to Disneyworld!"

"She's turning one! She will _never_ remember this!"

"But I'll remember," insisted Serenity, "And what kind of mother would I be if I didn't bring my daughter to Disney for her first birthday?"

"You just want to go to Disney for your own birthday, don't you?" Ward asked in amusement.

Serenity shrugged, "Two birds, one stone. Who does that anyway? Killing innocent birds with rocks? Horrid."

Ward sighed, "This isn't a good time, you know? And she will never remember. How about when she turns four or five?"

Serenity sighed, "Fine."

* * *

July 2015

"It's coming soon," murmured Ward, "I can feel it. Whitehall won't be able to keep himself from coming after you, pretty soon."

Serenity bounced Small Lady on her knees for a moment before nodding in agreement. "I feel it in my bones. Chaos is growing stronger everyday. I think the Great Freeze is coming. It has to happen this year, and this seems like an event that could trigger it."

Ward plucked the baby from her arms and massaged her back against his chest until she slowly drifted to sleep. Serenity thought it was kind of sexy.

"The battle is coming."

Garrett walked in suddenly, and he gave the family a shark like grin. "Well looksy here!" he exclaimed, holding his arms out expectantly. Grant inwardly wanted to kill Garrett, but he silently handed over the year old child. "She's a small one, eh?" he said, rocking her. Small Serenity was already asleep, and she made no sounds in his arms, not knowing the real danger she was in. "How old is she again?" he asked pointedly at Serenity. This didn't happen often. Usually he avoided addressing her at all.

"Thirteen months, Sir," Serenity said quietly, putting on a show of being quiet and meek, as she had done for the previous months.

Garrett gave out a harrumph before handing the baby back without grace to Serenity. Then he turned to Ward, "It's a woman's job to tend to a baby. You've got a real job to do, and I expect you to do it. Serenity, there is someone here to see you."

He left, leaving the air in the cabin cold, and the atmosphere tense.

She had known that Whitehall had expressed interest in her. She had known that he considered her a valuable asset. But until she met him and truly felt the ice-like feeling he gave her, she did not know the extent. Whitehall had a sliver of Chaos, a large slice, and a strong one. There was no hiding her identity from him. As soon as they met eyes for the first time, she felt Chaos stir. And she knew Whitehall felt it too. The baby was in her arms, but Ward was nowhere to be found.

"Serenity Queen," Whitehall said as he steepled his fingers at his desk, "I've heard so much about you. A goddess among women."

Serenity caught the innuendo and remained passive. "And is this your daughter? May I hold her?"

For the second time that day, Serenity handed her baby to someone she did not want to touch her. Garrett might have been a crappy person but Whitehall was downright evil.

"What is her name?" he asked as he rocked the child.

"Serenity," Serenity answered.

"She's a beautiful baby," Whitehall said, "She looks just like you."

Serenity remained apathetic as she replied, "Thank you, Sir."

Whitehall handed her baby back to her and smiling a wide Cheshire grin. "I just wanted to meet you. You're excused now."

* * *

August 2015

"He's definitely planning something," said Mina to the scouts and Coulson.

May rushed into the room, "And we've just figured out what. Skye and Amy have had all HYDRA operations under surveillance. We've discovered information that leads us to believe that HYDRA is planning mass nuclear warfare against us."

Coulson stood, "Against the United States?"

Serenity stood, "Against humanity."

"We need to stop them!" cried Raye.

"This is it," said Amara firmly, "this is the Great Freeze."

"What is the Great Freeze?" questioned Coulson for what seemed to be the thousandth time. Everyone wanted to know, and everyone had asked but no one had ever answered.

Serenity paused, "Call in the entire gang. I'll tell this story only once."

Bobbi, Mack and Hunter, as well as FitzSimmons and Skye were called in at once.

"The world is ending," Serenity began.

"Or it will," added Trista, "And it has started."

"What do you mean?" asked Melinda.

"In the original timeline – that being the one in which Grant and I never got together and had Small Lady – Endymion and I would have married when I turned eighteen. I would have become pregnant when I was twenty-one. HYDRA never would have broken out of S.H.I.E.L.D. Something, we don't know what, would have cause a massive destruction of life forms on Earth. We aren't sure if it was an attack by an outside galaxy, Chaos, or a disease. But, we do know that I would have stopped the attack completely."

Ward continued, "Then we would have been crowned King and Queen of the New Silver Millennium."

Bobbi gave a skeptical look, "What do you mean you would have stopped it?"

"I would have used my powers to bring the people back to life and to heal the Earth."

"So you're saying you think that this mass destruction is going to be caused by HYDRA?" asked Hunter.

Serenity sighed deeply, "Yes. And by the looks of it, they're going to attack the Earth with nuclear force to get rid of entire countries and continents."

"Why would they do that? That just seems stupid," said Bobbi. "You can't have an Earth to rule over if everyone is dead."

"HYDRA does not care about exterminating human lives. They want the perfect society where they control humanity. They want some people to live, but they want enough to die so that humans are easily controlled. The smaller the better. One billion people is easier to control than seven billion," said Mina carefully.

"How do we even protect that many people? Who would believe us? How do we stop it?"

"We can't stop it," said Mina, "That's the point of the Great Freeze. It happens, but Serenity will bring it to an end."

"Do you know how many people would have to be sacrificed?" asked Coulson angrily. "We are the shield that protects humanity. We do not pick and choose who we save!"

"We won't have to," said Mina, "She will bring them all back to life."

"All of them?" asked Hunter. "That is risky, isn't it?"

"Couldn't that drain your life force?" asked Coulson, anger forgotten.

"Yes," said Serenity, "It could. But that is a risk I am willing to take if it means that the people will survive. I will not see the last planet in this solar system lose its people."

It was time to prepare for war.

* * *

August 2015

"How are we supposed to go about doing this? We have no credibility. The public has lost its faith in superheroes after Ultron – and especially in S.H.I.E.L.D. We've been labeled as a terrorist organization," said Simmons, "No one is going to listen to us. After what happened Ultron… Well to put it lightly, I think we're up the river as the Americans would say."

"That will prove to be our biggest challenge," agreed Fitz.

"We still have contacts," said Mina seriously, "You may not know this but most of us have lives outside of our soldier duties."

"Well, I think we all knew that," said Bobbi, "She's an astrophysicist," pointing at Trista.

"Yes," began Trista, "I am. Michelle is the top solo violinist in Eurasia. Hotaru was recently published by the Cambridge University Press for her unprecedented work with biological engineering. Amy singlehandedly found the vaccine to Dengue Fever and is the top researcher for Ebolavirus. Raye's law firm just took down the biggest organized crime syndicate in Europe. Amara has been noted as the fastest women alive – taking home _four_ Olympic gold medals as well as winning the Grand Prix six times. Lita opened a restaurant in Paris that has been hailed as the best food in France. And you can't tell, but if Mina gets her undercover outfit out, you'd know she's an A-list actress and singer who's won two Academy Awards and four Golden Globes. _We know people_."

"Wait Amara as in the _Speed Demon_?" asked Hunter. Typical.

Bobbi rolled her eyes at Hunter, "How is any of that going to help us? We need CIA, FBI…"

"We do," said Serenity, "And that's where _I_ come in. My entire life revolves around my duty. I have never pursued a life outside of being Queen because I knew that it would be for nothing. My alter-ego has the highest, most trusted public approval out of all of the superheroes on Earth. Most Asian countries, and especially Japan, revere me as a hero."

"Yes – but after HYDRA," began Mack.

"It doesn't matter," forced Serenity, "Only my civilian identity has ever been associated with S.H.I.E.L.D. According to the media and public eyewitnesses, me and the rest of the Scouts showed up to the Battle for New York and the Battle for Sokovia completely accidently by traveling through a crack in the sky."

"And you really think that will work?" questioned May.

"It has to," said Coulson, "It's our only option."

"So far the Brits, Americans, Canadians, Australians, Kiwis, Japanese and South Africans have agreed to call off any hunt for superheroes and are actively working to find and arrest anyone they believe to be HYDRA. The Russians, French and Germans are close behind. They'll be voting in a referendum today on whether or not to join the battle against HYDRA. New Zealand has introduced a vote at the United Nations on beginning a full scale attack against HYDRA," said Skye as she typed away on her computer, "And the Internet is on fire. People across the globe are swearing allegiance to their governments and to the 'Woman in White'. That's what they're calling you, Serenity."

"This means that HYDRA will be forced into enacting their plan faster – hopefully meaning less carnage and more mistakes," said Coulson.

"We'll need to alert the governments and tell them to declare a state of emergency as soon as we give the green light – and to make sure all nuclear protection bases are functioning," said Jemma, "And that's when we can finally defeat HYDRA."

Ward looked at his phone, "Garrett is calling. It looks like he's going to bring Serenity and I back. Any more meetings must go through Mina. We need to return to HYDRA."

Serenity nodded and continued, "I need to make friendly with Daniel Whitehall. He and I both know that there is something going on there. I just need to make him believe that I'm too loyal to Ward and Small Lady to go against HYDRA."

Mina shifted in her position, "We need to call in as much backup from S.H.I.E.L.D. the CIA, FBI, MI6 and any other government special agencies as we can. HYDRA is going to want a battle. They're looking for World War III. Serenity and I have narrowed down the places Whitehall is most likely to launch a full scale nuclear attack and we think that he's going to start in Tokyo first."

Trip frowned, "Why Tokyo?"

Trista answered with worry, "Japan runs on a very high percentage of nuclear energy. It's an easy first target since there is a lot of nuclear energy to explode. They could clear a lot of Asia just by blowing up Japan, if they launch enough missiles."

Ward squinted, "That makes sense. Especially since Garrett's told me that Serenity and I are to meet him in Japan in less than twenty-four hours."

"How would he be able to get access to that many nuclear access codes?" asked May, "He would have to have hundred of people working on it at once."

"He doesn't need access codes," Serenity explained, "He only needs the Sagittarius codes."

"What?" questioned Skye, "What's that?"

"That's classified," began Coulson.

"Oh, can it," Skye replied, "The world is ending and I have a right to know."

"Sagittarius codes are a type of nuclear code that only detonates the missile," Serenity explained, "It doesn't launch the missile, it only detonates it. That means that he doesn't have to worry about the missile going offline or being rerouted, he only sets it off in the exact place where it is lying docile currently."

"So if Murmansk was hit-" began Mina.

"Boom," continued to Serenity, "No more Russia."

"Bloody Hell," swore Jemma uncharacteristically.

May cracked her knuckles, "Wheels up in five," and she marched away with precision.

"Start calling all of our contacts," said Coulson to his team, "Bobbi, call the other S.H.I.E.L.D. They'll need to be here too."

"Mina," said Serenity, "I want you and Trista to use your diplomacy skills and call the other scouts."

Fitz furrowed his brows, "I thought you were all here?"

Amara kept her face stony, "She wants us to contact the scouts from outside of this solar system. There are hundreds of us across the Galaxy. And they owe the Princess a favor."

Michelle and Raye shared a look before Lita spoke in a serious voice, "Prepare for the worst ladies. The battle has begun."

* * *

September 2015

In the next three days, hundreds of sailor soldiers from across the Galaxy teleported to Earth, stationing themselves all across the planet to help to keep HYDRA and in turn Chaos at bay until the final battle came. They were all over, teaming up with every government agency and superhero to stop HYDRA once and for all. And at the core of this was the Princess that the people had dubbed 'The Woman in White', who they only knew to be Princess Serenity of the Moon.

Said Princess rocked her toddler gently before putting her into the crib next to their bed carefully.

"Mama," she babbled and smiled a toothy grin.

Ward walked in and closed the door. "It's time. Daniel Whitehall has called a meeting of all of the HYDRA operatives in Japan and nearby vicinities."

Serenity nodded, using her powers to conjure a portal. She picked up a baby bag she had put aside a few days prior and a stuffed animal and set them all down in the bottom rack of the crib. Pluto walked through the portal, and began to push the basinet through with the help of the Amazoness Quartet.

"I will protect her with my life, Your Highness," vowed Ceres.

"Mama?" asked Small Lady. "Mama, up, please?"

Serenity smiled with slight tears, trying hard not to feel anxious that her baby was being taken from her. If she cried, Rini would cry and Serenity wouldn't be able to let her leave.

"Mama and Papa are going to see you soon, I promise you, baby."

Ceres smiled at the toddler, "Do you remember me, My Lady? My name is Ceres. I'm going to be your best friend, and you and I are going to have a lot of fun! I have something special for you. Do you want to see it?"

"Surprise!" hollered baby Serenity and reached up towards Ceres.

From behind her back, Ceres pulled out a cat toy. Ah, so that was how Rini had acquired Luna-P.

"Thank you, Ceres" Serenity whispered. If everything went properly, Ceres would put Small Serenity down with the rest of the Amazonesses to take a long sleep in the Moon Palace in order to save her from the horrors of what would be occurring on the Earth.

When the portal closed, she inhaled deeply and turned to Ward, wiping the tears from her eyes. Ward took her into his arms, understanding how much pain she was in. She smoothed out the top of her white lace and chiffon maxi dress and adjusted her gun and knife sheaths on her thighs before slipped her feet into a pair of silver flats.

"Let's go."

She and Ward stepped into the helicopter that was also carrying the super powered Raina, Agent Sitwell and Alexander Pierce. That alone made it clear that the final moments were here. As they got closer to their destination, Serenity noticed that they were flying towards the Juuban district of Tokyo. She shouldn't be surprised. For some reason, everything seemed to start in Juuban. They reached the top of the building, and Serenity realized the reason it looked so familiar was that the building was once Mugen Academy. It seemed this building was ideal for hiding evil. There was no coincidence here.

Quickly, they were led to an underground chamber that was vast, stark and perfect for meetings such as the one about to happen. At the front of the room on an elevated platform stood Daniel Whitehall and the other leaders of HYDRA. Around them were Nazi paraphernalia as well as the HYDRA symbol. As they entered the room, they donned HYDRA pins. Ward walked Serenity to a table that was in the dead middle of the room, where they sat with John Garrett, Raina, and several other HYDRA agents that they had tricked in the past months.

About thirty minutes later, the room was full with nearly a thousand HYDRA agents and supporters sitting at tables and waiting for their leaders to speak.

"Hail HYDRA!" Whitehall called. Immediately, the crowd responded the greeting back enthusiastically.

"The time has come," said Daniel Whitehall as he tapped the microphone, "To bring a new Earth! Today, we have taken down our nemesis – S.H.I.E.L.D. They have tried to stand against us. But they have failed - brought down by the same people that they tried to protect! Captain America," he spat as the crowd booed dutifully, "The Avengers," he cursed, "And recently this deranged Whore in White who calls herself Princess of the Moon!"

The people cheered in angry agreement.

"They are no threat to us! They cannot stop us! Every bomb they send we shall send ten more. Every soldier they send we shall cut down with our strife! Cut off one head and two more shall appear!

"Today, we will achieve the goal that our founder Johann Schmidt set out to achieve over seventy years ago. Today, we will control humanity. And it will all come from the support of you – our best agents who have done our cause it's just duty.

"Humans cannot make their decisions for themselves – they must rely on others to make it for them. That is why we are here today – to make this decision for humanity. Those who do not surrender to us, embrace our cause, and declare us the leaders of this world will die!"

Here the people cheered vibrantly. Serenity felt sick to her stomach.

"Project Insight was only the beginning. Today we are gathered to watch as the world burns and only those worthy will survive the nuclear fire that HYDRA will wreak! We are the chosen! Those born to survive! Those given more by the Blue Ones who visited us many moons ago!"

Suddenly, from the back of the auditorium, a woman with long blonde hair and a big red bow stood. "Actually," she said factually, "We weren't blue."

Everything moved quickly. Serenity shoved Ward into a portal that would take him outside of the commotion to where a group of agents had assembled to take out all the security and HYDRA members in the building. He, Fitz and Mack were on a mission to try to stop the nuclear weapons from detonating – something that they all knew was near impossible since it was a fated disaster, but they thought they should try anyway.

In the audience, Serenity stood, transforming as she did, followed by the rest of the Sailor Scouts. Shots rang out in the air, all of which did nothing to their bulletproof targets. Sailor Cosmos walked steadily towards the platform, deflecting hundreds of bullets, and knocking people down with her scepter while the rest of the scouts defeated the other members of HYDRA.

"Nine against three thousand! You cannot win this!" sneered a nameless man who had taken Strucker's place after the incident with Ultron. As far as she was concerned, she didn't even need to learn his name, since he was going to be dead in half a second.

Sailor Cosmos cocked a silver brow and shot him point blank, "Can't I?" Then she looked at Daniel Whitehall, finally making eye contact. "The time has come, Chaos," she spat, "Battle me now and see defeat."

In what looked to others like an explosion of light, the battle had begun. The nuclear weapons had begun to detonate, and with all of the fighting and chaos within the building, it was in near shambles as the spirit of Chaos possessed Daniel Whitehall completely. In the place of the bigoted German was now a violet colored mass of pure evil energy that was giving off pressure and fire like heat.

Across the world, people were dying on the streets. The nuclear fire was spreading, weaving across nations and destroying all the living creatures in its path. Many of them didn't even stand a chance to run from the explosions. For most, they simply disintegrated in the furious heat and energy. The team hadn't expected the second wild card that Whitehall had thrown – Phosphorous bombs. Hundreds of firestorms across Africa, North America and Australia were burning the oxygen straight from the atmosphere, leaving those who had not burned from the extreme heat of the phosphorous and those who had subsequently jumped into bodies of water to stop the burning, suffocating in the streets as the fire rained upon them.

Sailor Scouts across the world were taking down HYDRA. But, in this moment, the only battle that mattered was the one occurring between Sailor Cosmos and Chaos.

"We meet again, pretty little princess," he said in a distorted, warped voice. "I'll finally get to eat you, my dear."

With courage, and without inflection Cosmos replied, "You will never have the light, Chaos. I will not let you win."

"HYDRA has only done what the humans would have done before. They created this evil! They sowed this evil! But I will reap the darkness from it!"

"It's over for you Chaos," said Sailor Cosmos, raising her staff. "COSMIC MOON POWER!" she yelled, and all at once the light and the dark hit each other. In surprise to millions around the world who were still alive or dying, a sonic boom let off and what seemed to be a seismic charge rung out, blowing houses, buildings and people down.

She steeled her resolve as she held her scepter steady in her hands. It felt like days had passed, and her life force was dwindling to the bare minimum. Cosmos's nose began to bleed, and the silver substance began to drop from her ears as she was pushed harder by the darkness before her. She was wearing down. She hurt; her bones ached. If she closed her eyes she knew it would be over. She could sleep now – if she only just closed her eyes.

" _Mama,"_ a voice whispered.

Cosmos's eyes grew wide.

" _Mama, don't give up. Mama, I love you. Mama,"_ the voice whispered.

"Small Lady?" Cosmos struggled to say as the pain became so intense she could no longer breathe.

She couldn't even remember her life before Grant. Before Small Serenity. Her Rini; her little Princess Royale. If she hadn't taken a chance with Grant, what would he life be like? He made her so happy, tooth achingly happy. He wasn't perfect, but neither was she. He was what she wanted. And their baby. Little Princess Serenity was her own personal gift from the heavens. She never thought she could love someone more than she loved her husband, and that was still true. But it was a different kind of love. She had a heart full of love. She loved her husband, and her daughter and her friends who were like sisters. Thinking about it, she wasn't tired anymore. But she hurt everywhere. Her exhaustion had dulled the pain. Before it had been an aching throb and now – it felt like a thousand knifes stabbing into ever bone in her body, forcing her to give up, forcing her to die. She couldn't hang on any longer – Her pupils dilated, and eventually the light behind them disappeared. Her face went blank and her Crystal shattered into a million pieces.

" _Mama,"_

And in that moment, Serenity let go, allowing Chaos to devour her completely.

* * *

October 2998; a thousand years later

It seemed like seconds later when Serenity opened her eyes. It was total darkness, sadness and hatred around her. She was within Chaos. He had swallowed her whole. She had never felt this desolate before, as though all the happiness and light in the world had been snuffed out. She willed herself to move but found herself within an encasement of Silver Crystal which she knew had happened because it was trying to protect is mistress, and she began to panic. How long had passed? How long had she been asleep? If the Crystal had grown here – Chaos's power could be infinite!

" _Pretty little princess, all alone, without her prince or her friends,"_ jeered Chaos in his booming voice. _"Whatever will the poor little Moon Princess do?"_

Serenity groaned. She was no longer transformed, and she was naked. Her hair was singed and she could feel burns and cuts. Her nose wasn't bleeding, but she could feel the dried blood on her face and her chest. In the darkness she could see that her crescent mark was pulsating weakly. The Crystal had tried to heal her, but the energy it used was the thing that was killing her. She was dying, and both she and Chaos knew this.

" _Will you give up now? I've been feeding on your light for a thousand years, taking your life force. You cannot stop me now!"_

He was pressing down on her, oppressing her. Her lungs were sinking in her chest and he forced her to relive every horror she had witnessed – every horror she had lived. Prince Diamond. The Potentials. Trip. The fire that had taken her family. Their burned corpses. Her brother screaming. Torture. Souls dying. Stars dying. She was dying. She couldn't take it anymore – she couldn't hold on. When had she become so weak? She didn't deserve to live if she couldn't fight this great evil.

" _I love you, Mama."_ Small Lady.

" _I've half loved you for half of my life."_ Ward.

" _You are My Princess, my sister, my friend."_ Mina.

" _We didn't know faith until we met you."_ Amara.

" _You are the Messiah of Light. And we will die for you."_ Michelle.

" _You are the glue that binds us all together."_ Hotaru.

" _You were my first friend. I didn't know friendship until we met."_ Amy.

" _Aren't you scared of me?"_ Lita.

" _You've made me the most proud mother."_ Queen Serenity.

" _You may be lazy and irresponsible, but you are a great woman, with a heart of gold."_ Luna.

" _We might fight more than anyone else, but it's only because we love each other so much."_ Raye.

Her friends, she thought, they deserved to live. They had to live. And so she closed her eyes and she saw them, all laying unconscious in the oppressive darkness. Chaos had swallowed the world whole, leaving the planet in suspended animation as though not a second had passed since she had first closed her eyes. And so she breathed out, "Sailor Scouts, lend me you power,"

Brilliant colors flash.

"Mercury Crystal Power."

"Mars Crystal Power."

"Jupiter Crystal Power."

"Venus Crystal Power."

"Saturn Crystal Power."

"Uranus Crystal Power."

"Neptune Crystal Power."

"Pluto Crystal Power."

She healed, and her crystal, which she could feel cracking under the immense pressure, flashed and let off a glow, shining as though it was new, and it was. It was new with the power of love.

" _What is this? Stop that!"_ shrieked Chaos.

"People of Earth, hear me!" Serenity called as she brought forth the crystal from her chest and in the front of her. They could hear her, she knew, even though many of them were hibernating in the immense darkness that concealed everything.

"Listen to me - all of the humans on this planet. They are trying to take our planet. They want to hurt the ones we love. Chaos is trying to destroy our home! He is about to destroy us completely. We cannot let him take everything we love. He wants to take everything from us. Please, join me. Fight this with me. _Cosmic Moon Power!_ Say it with me! _Cosmic Moon Power!"_

" _What are you doing!? Stop!"_ thundered Chaos.

She felt the power surge from within. A ray of light from within became a strong beam from her crystal, which shot straight up and pierced through the darkness revealing the planets and stars outside of Chaos. Beam after beam appeared, causing tears to become gaping holes which eventually pushed the darkness from the planet and into a single burning entity of hate. With the darkness receding, those who had survived the initial carnage began to wake from their suppression-induced hibernation. He screeched in anger and pain as Serenity put her full power behind destroying Chaos once and for all.

"I won't let you hurt this planet! This is my home - one so beautiful and loving. But you will never understand love! You are dark, and twisted, and evil!"

" _Love is weak!"_ the demon howled angrily, _"Love is foolish! Love is what killed your little Prince!"_

"You're wrong!" yelled Serenity as her arms began to shake from the pressure. "Love is the most powerful force in the universe. Love is what will destroy you today. Love is what will keep you away forever! Cosmic Moon Power!"

In the streets the people began to chant, as if in a trance, "Cosmic Moon Power!"

"Cosmic Lune Puissance!"

"Cosmic Mond-Energie!"

"Kosmische Maan Vermogen!"

"Cosmic Luna Potenza!"

"Luna Cosmica Energia!"

She could feel their strength, the love in their hearts. She could feel their souls pulsating and their own star seeds shining brightly across the planet. It gave her power and hope and she pushed this energy into her own strength. She closed her eyes and thought about love. The ones she loved, the ones that others loved, and all the love that was in the world. In a last deluge of power, her crystal shined in a blinding light as she yelled, "COSMIC MOON POWER!"

She felt the universe shutter as Chaos fell apart at the seams, ripping his essence apart, and forcing the pure hatred, malice and evil back to the Cauldron, where all life would be born and would die. He was gone, defeated.

Around her, dying people watch on as the brilliant light reached the heavens, bursting into hundreds of beams of vibrant colors that spread to all the corners of the Earth. Suddenly, she raised the lotus shaped crystal with a newfound strength. She closed her eyes and called out, "COSMIC HEALING ESCALATION!"

In an explosion of bright, warm light the buildings came back together. The dying in the streets suddenly found themselves healed and the dead who lay across the Earth in millions were brought back from the Galaxy Cauldron on Sagittarius Zero Star. The light came back across the Earth, bringing back the vegetation, oceans and animals. Millions who had been suspended in their deaths over time watched as the phenomenon happened in awed reverence. This was a new coming, a new world, a place without fear or hate.

"This is it," said Sailor Venus as she stood in her spot and brought forth her pen. Across Japan the other scouts brought forth their pens and raised them in the air. They stood in their places and from the center of the five pointed star that was created between all of the Scouts, Serenity used her last power to create the Utopia that had been thousands of years in the making, a world where love prevailed.

Crystal Tokyo had come.

* * *

December 2998

The world wasn't sure how to react to the change that they knew was in the making. In the middle of Japan in the shape of a five-pointed star was a massive crystal palace; one that the people knew housed the Woman in White, who they had come to dub The Savior. By popular vote and by the sovereignty of the people, this woman would be Queen of Crystal Earth. They had seen what she could do, and had felt her power and her purity for themselves. How could someone so _good_ ever steer them wrong?

"There are many things that must be sorted out here." Serenity said as she and Ward stood in front of the United Nations. "I am Princess Serenity, Archduchess of the White Moon."

"And I am Prince Endymion. Rightfully, when I was born, I became heir to the Throne of Earth. A thousand years ago, there was an island between Europe and North America. You would know it as Atlantis, but we called it Elysion, the land of dreams and promise. When our kingdom was destroyed by sorcery, our land became a place between this world and the next, only to be entered by a chosen few. It was my god-given right to rule this planet and lead it through the next ten millenniums. Today, I Endymion VII claim my throne as King of Earth, and my wife Princess Serenity, ruler of the Silver Millenium as my lawful Queen and Co-Regent."

"We have not fought for centuries to let democracy die!" exclaimed the French diplomat.

"You did not fight at all," commented the Russian diplomat dryly. "France hasn't been courageous since Napoleon."

"At least we're not communists!" exclaimed a Belgian diplomat.

The English diplomat rolled his eyes. The others could be so petty sometimes. He was above all this. The English were above this.

"The people have spoken," continued Serenity ignoring the men who had interrupted their speech, "And we shall listen. Not much will change except for total equality and democracy. Democracies and Republics will be installed in all countries, and in meetings like this with each country represented, you will come to us with the needs of your country. Endymion and I will not allow for another massacre of any people to take place.

You will still be sovereign nations with your own governments that will decide the laws in your state, which will be approved by the World Senate. Each country will be allowed a single delegate in this governing body that will vote on approvals and vetoes for states. Once it passes or is refused, it will be sent to the King and I, and we will make the final decision based on the will of the people. We will not interfere in the running of your governments, unless it is a danger to this planet, or we feel as though equality and peace are being threatened."

"But terrorism-" began the American minister.

"Of course _you_ would care about that," cut out the diplomat from Iran.

The North Korean minister just snorted.

"There will be no terrorism. We will create a time of total peace. All borders will be open. There will be freedom, equality, and generosity between all of the states," said Serenity carefully.

"And how can we trust you?" asked the German diplomat, "We have seen too many dictators, and too many tyrants in our time."

"Simple," said Ward, "This is a Utopia." Before anyone could speak he continued, "There will be no aggression between nations. All matters of issue will be decided verbally. There will be no more war – period. And this is attainable, as we have reached a new level of Nirvana on this planet that allows for higher thinking – a reasoning beyond warfare and barbarianism." He and Serenity shared a deep look. For them to understand and to truly trust the couple, their history would have to be completely explained.

"Let me tell you all a story of how this world came to be. I have lived many thousands of years," said Serenity, "And my people lived for millions of years before my people were forced into extinction by an evil so great that my mother, who had been Queen for twelve _thousand_ years could not defeat its darkness. We watched you from the beginning of time on the moon. We watched as your world was created. You went from beast-like creatures that cared for little more than feeding, sex and violence. We were scared of your kind. You bred quickly, far faster than any other race in this galaxy. In only nine months, a new human could be born. A full-blooded Lunarian babe can take up to two Earth years to mature in its mother's womb. You outnumbered us one thousand to one within the first two thousand years of your species. But somehow, through our fear, we began to love you from afar and watch over you and protect you. "You discovered fire, and learned to speak, and you prayed to Gods that you believed lived upon a high mountain, but we granted your wishes. I would watch and feel as people prayed to Selene and Artemis for the hunt, for fertility and for moonlight and I would grant these wishes. To your species, I was a Goddess. I had control over you because you gave to me your hope and dreams and I would grant them in confidence that one day your people would reach the level of reasoning that the rest of the galaxy had already managed to reach.

"I watched the veins of your cities grow from space. Soon you had massive numbers. You were reproducing, and producing goods, learning. And then suddenly, we were forgotten. People no longer prayed to the Gods in the heavens. Some still believed. The Greeks and Romans, the Irish and many of those far removed in Africa and North and South America. I assume you all know of the Old Testament?"

Everyone in the audience nodded their heads in fascination. To know their history like this, for surety? They had to listen. They were enthralled.

"You discovered God, and learned a faith that was new to you but that those of us in the Silver Millennium already worshipped by a different name: The Powers that Be. That was when we Lunarians earned a new respect for your people. You were not as primitive as before. We had hopes for your race. We watched as the Jews spread and eventually as your people learned of the birth of Christ. I cannot say anything about him for sure. It is true that God has sons, and daughters in all of us. I did not meet Jesus, but I heard of him quickly from our network of connections on Earth. That was when I began to want to see your kind for myself. I journeyed to Earth in secret and saw the Israelites and finally met those who had worshipped me in Greece and Rome. That was 49 AD, I believe. Your world was so different. So _new_. And I came upon the land in a sea of bright white light and your people saw upon themselves to worship me, to kneel at my feet when I made miracles. I gave them their sight, and healed them of their ailments.

"I did this for hundreds of years. Until something changed. Your kind became suspicions. Who was this woman? your kind wondered when they saw me. How does she do things that only God can do? I became frightened by the reactions that I got when I landed on Earth outside of Elysion. I did not know what response I would get. Some thought me an Angel, descended from the heavens to give the word of God. But I am no angel and I cannot speak for the all-mighty-one.

"Soon, they believed me a heretic, a witch, and they chased me from their lands. But I still came to make miracles for the race that I had watched from my birth grow into something beautiful. I wanted to understand you, you see? I didn't understand your gumption. How, I asked my mother, could there be a race that wanted happiness so badly, but not want change? We did not understand. So I sought to understand. In the 900th year of your calendar, my mother forbid me from your people. I had gone to visit, to cure a race of people who would be extinct from the deadly disease that you called smallpox. I could not watch as it destroyed the entire world. It was spreading rapidly. I came and cured it, but my help was seen as from the Devil, as witchcraft and they tried to seal me into a stone tower without air to kill me. I understood even less. What had happened? Why had your people suddenly become so hostile to those who were different? My ladies in waiting rescued me and brought me home. I did not return to Earth for over a hundred years, and the attack on me spread across the other eight planets like wildfire. They began to mistrust Earthlings. In their minds, and even my mother's eyes, you were dangerous. You were afraid, terrified of that which was not the same. This has been a problem for you kind since its start, but you were also accepting. But now, you did not accept, you only condemned. Tragically, this is something that your kind still does. You hate that which you do not understand.

"I had always been your strongest champion. I _loved_ the Earth. It was everything that my own Kingdom was not. You had life; _green_ , real _life_. Trees, and water, and flowers… and they were _real_. On Luna, everything was artificial from the flowers to the grass and the trees. They were not natural. They were beautiful, perfect, but they lacked that natural beauty that Earth had, that slight imperfection. Even I had begun to lose faith that Earth would reach such great heights. I had almost given up, save for the small region named Elysion that had managed to stay strong, and to stay moral in this time full of hate and anger and fear.

"Elysion knew things that others did not. They had managed to get ahead. They were more advanced then than many of your countries are today. They understood the galaxy, and knew there was life on the moon because they had faith and truth. We visited them, and they made a treaty with us, to always fight by our side to protect this galaxy. A hundred and fifty years passed and it was then that the my husband was born." Serenity took Ward's hand gently.

"He was so perfect. Even as a child. The Elysions had come to the moon many times, to strengthen our alliance. King Endymion and Queen Titania were lovely people, and strong rulers that I had watched from their births. And then they created a son with eyes of midnight blue and hair as dark as the void of space, but with skin and a heart as pure as the Sea of Serenity. I held him in my arms when he was only days old and I knew in my heart that this child would make miracles greater than any human before him. I fell in love, not in a strange way but as a sister loves a brother. The period of him as a child is the only time I remember being consistently on your planet for extended periods of time. My mother didn't like it. She saw what your kind was capable of, especially with the rebel forces beginning to grow across the galaxy under the influence of Chaos. They were suspicious of our ability to live. They were jealous that we lived for millennia while they struggled to live for a century.

"I watched him grow from a beautiful baby into a curious boy. I babysat, as your people call it now and visited him. When he threw fits during his lessons, I was the one who explained to him why he was wrong. I taught him what I knew, the history of his planet. I taught him High Lunarian, French, Spanish, Greek, English and Latin and all of the other languages he would ever need to know. I was the most important person in his life after his parents. He saw me as sure as he knew the sun would rise and the moon would set. 'Serenity' he would say to me 'why do we look different if you are my sister?' and I could only say that we were siblings in bond but not blood. He understood. When he was eight, he began to notice that I was different from the other people around him. He played with his friends, his knights and had lessons with them. But they did not look like me. Even Kunzite who had the palest blond hair and lightest violet eyes did not look like me. When he was ten, he realized that I was not like him. 'Serenity' he asked me, 'why do you look the same as you did before?' and what could I say to this child? That I would live young forever as he withered and died? So I told him that I was not human; that I was a Princess from the White Moon in the sky. He was fascinated. He begged and pleaded to come to the Moon and so I brought him and he saw the Earth from the sky for the very first time. He finally understood the beauty that we on the moon had seen for millennia.

"He grew from a smart boy into a responsible young man who had turned sixteen. Something had changed. I knew I loved him in my heart, but I thought that I still loved that child, the one who I had seen as my own. He began to get frustrated with me. I called him my brother, mon petite frère I said to anyone who would listen. He would have been the brother that I wanted, if my mother could have been blessed with another child. He was quick to correct me. He did not mean to hurt me, but when he said he was not my brother my soul cried. I thought he was being cruel and so I began to withdraw into myself and it was ten years before I would see the Prince of Earth again.

"At that time I was ready to be married. I was going to be eleven millennia old and my mother wanted me to be married before I took her crown, so that she could fade out of this world knowing I had a husband and a child. My mother had negotiated a contact with Nemesis, a planet that goes in and out of the orbit outside of Pluto. They were not part of the Silver Millennium, but this marriage could bring them into the fold. They had strength and numbers that we needed, especially with the growing evil on Earth." Serenity sighed, taking a sip of water. She had been talking for a long time, but she felt that the Earthlings could not reach nirvana if they did not know they could trust her. She could feel them hanging on every word.

"I was to marry Prince Diamond, the crowned Prince. If things had been different, I might have loved him, if I had never held that child in my arms. He was a beautiful man. He was tall, lean, with platinum hair and eyes the color of the crystal sea. And he loved me, he loved me fiercely and passionately, and had since the both of us were far younger. We'd known each other for thousands of years, but I had never paid him attention for I was young and cared only about my friends and seeing the Earth. But he was not my darling boy, my Endymion who I realized that I loved as something not platonic at all. My fascination with the child had become love. But I knew I had to do my duty and marry the man that my mother had chosen. I came to my soon-to-be wedding untouched by a man," she got looks of discomfort from many in the audience, "But I did not reach my wedding. Endymion came to me, a fully-grown twenty-six year old man and fell to my feet. Do you remember what you said to me?" she asked, now directed towards her husband who had remained quiet the entire time in loving fascination.

He came closer, running his fingers down her arm and then taking her hand into his gently, "I told you that I would bind myself to you. I told you the truth as I knew it, that I could not live in this world without you to wife. 'I've half loved you for half of my life'."

"He kissed me deeply, then. I was shocked. It had been ten years. He was twenty-six and still unmarried! This did not happen, at that time. He had no heirs, and no women. He was still a child in some ways, a grown man to others but to I who had lived a thousand lives of men he was still a child. But I loved him with my whole soul. The contract with Nemesis was broken at my begging of my mother. We were to be married right away. We'd spent ten years apart and had many things to catch up to. Endymion had only some business to handle on Earth and then he would join me on the Moon where we would marry.

But Chaos had become too strong. He had possessed millions and soon the rebel forces across the galaxy could no longer be contained. I watched as planet after planet fell to the rebel forces. Earth fell first. They slaughtered the strong and killed everything and everyone in their way, even those not of Elysion. My mother and her council of Elders called the militaries of each planet in this solar system to try to keep the evil at bay. Millions of Martians, Venusians, Mercurians and Jupitarans gave their lives to keep your lands safe. They destroyed all of Elysion to stop the evil that lived in human hearts from spreading to other lands. The Light will always defeat the dark," Serenity said firmly, "But the dark can seduce even the strongest mind in a way that the light cannot. He has an allure, a pull that can live within any heart but thrives within humans. Humans are predominately light creatures… You all have strong hearts, but you can be misguided, and the darkness likes to use that against your species.

"All the while I pined for my fiancé. I needed him in my arms, to know that he was real, that God had truly given me this man. Our reunion was cut short by an attack on the Moon's Palace. We were never married. Chaos, who had wanted the light that I could give attacked me to weaken me, but Endymion took the blow for me. I was so angry with him. I was an immortal God! I could survive. But he… I watched as the light left his eyes and it seemed as though the steel cable that connected me to this universe had shattered before my eyes. I took up the Holy Sword that had been meant to protect me from any harm and drove it through my chest. I had never killed anyone, had never been violent, but I saw that sword and I ended my physical life because my soul was dead.

"My mother had managed to seal the evil away within the Silver Crystal. But I was dead, along with all of the people of the moon, and the rest of the people on the other planets and the entirety of Elysion. She was distraught. She used the last of her power to send us all to a new time, a time of peace in hopes that I could live another life where my love was not ripped away from me.

"Don't you see?" Serenity asked the audience, "This future has been in the making for thousands of years. This has been meant to happen since the dawn of your species."

Some were moved to tears. From there, negotiations were far easier. They wanted this, wanted this eternal peace that they had heard was going to last forever. Negotiations went on for weeks. Each country had concerns. What would happen to the economies? The trade? Laws? Women's rights? Gay marriage? Some countries were more resistant than others in these debates. Russia did not want to accept same-sex marriage, while Saudi Arabia was appalled by the idea of women's rights and the United States was hesitant to give up their right to bare arms. With the help of the Scouts and their own diplomatic abilities, Serenity and Ward finally had the support of both the United Nations and the general public.

Now, they had to appeal to the world leaders. In some ways, it was much easier talking them down than it was the United Nations. Many of the governments had already been on board, since they had supported the full-frontal take down of HYDRA. Others were harder to negotiate with. France, Germany, and England, while they supported the take down of HYDRA, were not exceptionally happy to be joining what they saw as an Empire.

"As you can understand," the elderly woman continued, "I have many concerns."

Serenity nodded politely, one Queen to another.

Prime Minister Cameron frowned deeply, "We have always valued our independence, Your Highness," he said, "And so we are quite concerned to hear about these developments that we believe may not align with our strong constitutional traditions."

Ward and Serenity shared a look before Serenity smiled softly, "I understand your concerns, as England has been a super-power for many centuries. However, my mother's Empire flourished in a time of great prosperity for all the planets in this galaxy. I intend to, along with my husband, establish peace and prosperity as well as equality in all nation-states. With Her Majesty's support, many other countries will surely follow Britain's lead."

Queen Elizabeth leaned back in her chair as she took a sip of tea, "That is just what I wanted to hear. You have our backing, Princess Serenity. You will make a fine Queen."

* * *

May 3000

Within a year and a half after HYDRA's downfall, both Serenity and Ward were preparing for their coronation. Over eighty percent of the countries in the world had supported their ascension from the beginning; another ten percent had recently finished negotiations through Mina, Amara and Raye and the last were expected to be finished soon.

"Small Lady?" called Serenity. She sighed when she didn't get an answer. "Luna," she said to her cat, "Would you find my daughter, please? I have a half mind that she's playing in the throne room again."

Luna scampered off and Serenity finished clasping her diamond drop earrings in her ear.

Skye from behind her, leaning on the large vanity, "I never thought something like this would happen."

"What?" laughed Serenity, "Marrying Trip or me installing you as Queen of China?" When countries had begun to sign on to the new Earth, some countries had needed more work than others. Many countries that didn't have democracies needed to have a change in order to work towards freedom and equality of gender, race, and ethnicity. China was moving from a communist government to a constitutional monarchy, slowly but surely in order to install democracy but allow for some amount of control. When the Chinese had found out about Skye's inhuman abilities and her being from a small province in China, they had been thrilled to install her. To them she had the sacred gift. Trip was just in it for the ride.

"Ugh," Skye said, "Both. And the fact that I'm pregnant. Now I see why you were such a terror before," she said in annoyance, "He won't stop kicking!" After everyone had almost died, Skye and Trip had decided to tie the knot sooner versus later. Serenity was happy for them, because Skye was her friend and her friend loved Tripp deeply.

She was jealous though, just a bit inside of her heart. She was full of love for her little Princess Royale but she was bitter. She and Ward had decided that they wanted another child. Serenity ignored that in the future she knew there had only been Small Lady Serenity. After all, the future changed didn't it? Why couldn't this change? But after trying for eight months without conception they got concerned. She had gotten pregnant before while _on the pill_. Shouldn't it have been easier this time? Grant was still young. He couldn't be shooting blanks. And Serenity was still in her twenties! They reached out to Jemma who had given them the saddest news that Serenity had gotten since the deaths of her parents and brother. The trauma of her first pregnancy caused massive scar tissue that meant there would be no more children in her womb.

"It's my fault," Jemma had cried. "I should've known to check for scarring during the birth and after. You've accelerated healing and I should have known this would happen. I'm such an idiot!"

Serenity had taken her shy friend into her arms and had held her tight. "Jemma, nothing is your fault. You did the best you could. You saved my baby from _dying_. You gave me my small miracle. I could never blame you. And you shouldn't blame yourself, either."

And she didn't blame Jemma. But inside, her heart still hurt. She was so full of love and every single time she saw Skye, or a newborn a small piece of her shuddered in pain. She would have no more children. And it hurt her more than she would admit. Ward said nothing, but she knew it hurt him too.

But she tried to be supportive. Mina was trying with Steve. Skye was already pregnant. Her life was full of babies. Maybe if she tried really hard, she could be a godmother or an aunt. And weren't those just as good as being a mother? If not better, since she could return the child when she didn't want it anymore?

Serenity snorted to herself and returned her mind the present. In that moment, Jemma finally left the bathroom and collapsed on the large settee with a handle of tequila. Skye furrowed her brows. Jemma never drank tequila after the raving incident of 2013. She had vomited so badly that bile had come from her nose. Jemma had been convinced that it was her punishment for trying drugs that one time. Mina, Skye and Serenity didn't have the heart to tell her that she was the only one of the four who had gotten vitamins. That's right, Jemma Simmons had gotten high off the placebo. She and Grant had laughed about it for days afterwards.

"What's with you?" she asked. "You look conflicted."

"It's because I am!" Jemma exclaimed as a maid entered and set down tea and treats. She shoved a strawberry tart into her mouth and swallowed it before shoving another one in and opening her mouth, "Latmeharryim," she said with a full mouth, spewing cookie all over the table in front of her.

Serenity choked, since she was used to foodspeakease from Mina but Skye stared in confusion. "Say that again without stuffing your face?"

"Leo asked me to marry him," Jemma said, sipping down some tea.

Skye's jaw dropped, "Seriously?" she exclaimed, "When?"

"Last night," Jemma said, "After our dinner and a movie date. I didn't even know he was going to do it!"

"Well?" asked Serenity, "What did you say?"

"I said I would think about it?" Jemma answered carefully.

Skye put her face in her hands and Serenity sighed deeply. "Jemma, seriously?"

"What?" asked Jemma, offended.

"He's mad about you – crazy stupid in love! And he has been for _years_. And you say maybe when he asks you to marry him?" asked Skye in irritated dismay. "And you love him! You've had a crush on him since the first time he mentioned heavy ion fusion in front of you!"

"I shouldn't have told you guys that story," Jemma groaned, "And I have to weigh the pros and cons! What if there are more Cons than Pros?"

"Sweetie, no," said Serenity as she finished tying her hair up, "It doesn't work that way. Do you love him?"

Jemma nodded miserably.

"That's the most important thing. Sometimes, love is not enough. But you two have so much more than that. You're best friends. That is enough for me to know that you should answer."

Skye patted Jemma softly, "He's probably freaking out right now. He probably thinks you're going to say no, since you waited to answer. That explains why Trip and Ward left in a hurry earlier," huffed Skye, "I swear to God, Jemma, you had better go find that boy right now and tell him you want to marry him and make nerd babies!"

Jemma made the impression of a fish before exclaimed, "Right!" and rushing out of the room in a frenzy. As she left, Mina strolled in.

"What's started a fire under her shoes?"

"It's lit a fire under the ass, Mina," said Skye helpfully. "And it's Fitz. He asked her to marry him."

"Oh that's it? I was waiting for it to come. Match made in heaven those two are – I would know. I made it after all."

Both Serenity and Skye rolled their eyes. Mina could be so full of shit sometimes, especially when it came to romance. Her scheming was pretty amazing, but she was so full of it that Serenity couldn't even half way appreciate it sometimes.

Serenity turned back to the mirror in front of her and dusted her face lightly with a translucent powder after she curled her lashes and applied mascara. She stood elegantly in her silk dressing gown in front of her jewelry dresser thoughtfully.

"Wear the middle one," said a wizened voice. All of the girls turned and gasped excitedly.

"May!" exclaimed Skye as they all hugged her. "I've missed you."

"What have you been up to? You fell off the radar for a while. We were beginning to get worried," said Mina.

"Coulson and I decided to take a real trip to Tahiti. He actually thinks it's a magical place now." she responded evasively. But the girls had a sneaking suspicion that the older duo would eventually realize that everyone knew that they were dating. For now the rest of the crew were gallantly pretending that they knew nothing about anything, "I heard that FitzSimmons are going to be engaged, so I had to come."

"How does everyone find these things out before me?" questioned Skye.

"Ah," said Serenity, "Trip called you."

"The one and only," May affirmed as she sat on the settee Jemma had sat on moments before and started to chew on a biscuit.

"So you think the middle one?" asked Serenity.

"Yes. It's stately, beautiful and very extravagant without being too much."

"Perfect," Serenity said as she pulled the crown from its case along with the ball that went along with it. She would be using her own scepter, since it was a symbol of her divine given power. She turned to the maid in the corner, "Would you tell His Highness that I'll be wearing this crown and to choose his accordingly?"

The maid curtseyed before hurrying off.

Serenity pulled her traditional white gown from a hanger where dozens of them hung in a row. She stepped into the dress, and allowed May to button it up from behind. Serenity finished applying her blood red lipstick and her pearl bracelet, and looked at herself in the mirror with a critical eye.

Luna appeared a moment later with the toddler princess in tow. "Hi mama," Small Serenity bubbled, wobbling into the room as fast as her toddler legs could carry her before falling face first into the carpet of the walk-in closet. She sniffled a little but held back her tears.

"What a brave little one the Small Lady is," cooed Mina.

Serenity smiled and knelt down carefully on her dress, to which Small Lady replied by running towards her and jumping on her. "I'm so proud that you've kept your dress clean!" Serenity fawned as she stood with her daughter and moved them towards the jewels. "I'm so proud that I have a surprise for you."

"Surprise?" asked Small Lady in excitement as she clapped her hands together and bounced.

"Yes, darling," Serenity said as she pulled a small golden tiara with hair combs attached that was clearly meant for a child from a drawer. "This was mine, and then your grandmother's and hers before her. It's very special, and it shows everyone you're my littlest one," Serenity said as she fit the tiara onto her daughter's head.

A maid appeared and curtseyed deeply before speaking, "His Highness the Duke of Cambridge and Her Grace the Duchess of Cambridge have arrived with His Highness the Prince George."

"Did you hear that, darling? Your friend is here." Serenity asked Small Lady as she and the rest of the group began to migrate from her dressing closet into her chambers and then towards the receiving room.

"Up, mama, up," insisted Small Lady, reaching her chubby arms upwards. Serenity indulged her, knowing that soon her daughter would be too big for her to carry, and she would never have another infant to carry again. She pushed that thought away as quickly as it came. Today was a joyous day.

Halfway there, Trip and Ward along with an anxious FitzSimmons and a grinning Coulson met them. "Amelia," stated Serenity evenly, calling to a servant nearby. "Would you please show Director Coulson, Agent May, and FitzSimmons to their rooms?"

"Yes, Your Highness," the girl said as she curtseyed and led the group away.

As they walked into the receiving room, Small Lady could barely contain her excitement and shot off like a rocket from her mother's side until Serenity spoke evenly, "Small Lady."

Little Serenity went ramrod straight and stopped dead in her tracks, remembering that she must always behave properly. "How do you do, Your Royal Highness?" she asked as she wobbled into a curtsey, "My name is Small Lady Serenity XXII. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance again." Of course, half of the words were mispronounced and she stumbled through her introductions, but the adults in the room were impressed no less.

George, who was quite a bit older than Serenity replied with his own greeting.

Serenity smiled genuinely. No doubt this would be an agreeable match when Small Lady was starting to grow. She wouldn't force her of course, but George was a handsome boy and it was clear from her daughter's blushing that she agreed. He was of the right stock, with a long family line, and a pair of well educated parents who had raised him to be smart. He'd be King of England one day, and as such would make an excellent co-regent for Serenity when it was time for her to take her mother's throne. "Small Lady, would you like to show Prince George your kitten?"

Small Lady nodded excitedly. Luna and Artemis had just had Diana about three weeks ago. She didn't do much yet except sleep and snuggle with Small Lady, but Small Lady had fallen in love with the silver cat and wanted to show her to everyone who cared to look. Her excitement must have passed on to the Prince, because George replied fluidly, "Madam, Her Majesty has requested we play together. Is this agreeable?"

Small Lady nodded shyly, flushing a deep red. An excellent match, indeed.

"Luna, Artemis" commanded, Ward, "Please escort them to Small Lady's playroom." Although Grant Ward had never had training to be King, Prince Endymion had, and Grant Ward commanded that skill with precision.

When they left, Serenity, Ward, the Duke and Duchess as well as Trip and Skye sat around the table with a steaming pot of Earl Grey. "We are quite pleased when we heard that you had decide to accept our invitation," said Serenity.

"Small Lady has very few friends her own age, as I am sure you understand," said Ward. Everyone nodded in sympathetic agreement.

"Now enough with formalities," she said, "I'm sure we all know that we are here to discuss a non-binding marriage agreement between our three families, and hopefully with the Grand Duke and Duchess of Russia." Serenity was of course speaking of Mina and Steve who she had installed to run the government that had had trouble functioning for decades.

Trip and Skye both nodded. "We believe it is important to show a united front."

"I will agree with this matter," the Duke of Cambridge replied, "England is committed to the Neo Holy Lunarian Empire." Especially since it looked like their son would be king of that Empire.

Trip folded his arms, "My wife and I have clearly conceived," he said diplomatically, "And we hope to soon enter a marriage agreement soon with the Grand Duke and Duchess."

Ward nodded in agreement. "No written notice has to be signed, as we have decided it best to suggest marriage to the children but not force them. This agreement must be remembered in the future."

Serenity sipped her tea thoughtfully before continuing on, "In the case that His Highness and I choose to conceive again, we would be interested in another contract for that child. We believe that setting up intermarriages between all of the political leaders will allow people to be more open to the idea of accepting other nations and their values."

"A smashing idea," the Duchess of Cambridge replied, "We have been blessed with a daughter, as you know. She is still young but she would certainly be an excellent playmate for Her Highness."

Catching on to what the Duchess was hinting at, Serenity smiled, "Serenity will need at least four more ladies in waiting to join her currently ladies. When Princess Charlotte is old enough, we will set up rooms for her within the palace."

If both of their children could connect to the Princess, Windsor House would have a secured position as a favorite. While Serenity didn't want to indulge in favorites, she did agree that the United Kingdom had supported her and Grant staunchly and she had to recognize that.

The group continued to chat for a while longer before they parted ways in order to ready themselves for the most important moment in thousands of years. The ceremony was only an hour away, and Serenity had the sneaking suspicion that Small Lady would have engaged in some kind of tom foolery while she and George were playing.

"Small Lady," Serenity called as George returned to his parents.

The small girl peeked her head around the corner of one of her play sets. Which is when Serenity noticed that Small Lady had certainly made a mess out of her dress while playing. This was not a surprise to her, since Small Lady was still young, and so she called for the Princess's nanny to change her dress and clean her up so she would be presentable. She guessed she had spoken too soon when Rini had managed to keep her dress clean earlier, but wasn't too worried about it.

"Are you ready?" Ward asked, kissing her cheek.

"I think so."

"I know you are," Grant said. "You'll be a wonderful Queen and look at you. You've got the mother and wife thing down already."

"You are too good to me," Serenity replied with a small smile.

"Well, I like to think I'm a suave panty-charmer."

"As in you're suave enough to charm panties off."

"Exactly."

"You're lucky you're so charming because you are ridiculously insincere and it's killing me."

"I'm so sincere it's ridiculous."

"You're so full of shit it's ridiculous," Serenity kissed him deeply and then, as usual, she felt his hand move to her rear. "Don't even think about it. Eight thousand people are waiting to watch us get crowned! And half the world is going to watch it on TV!"

"Remember that time you said you didn't want to arrive at a ball freshly fucked?"

Serenity rolled her eyes.

"I think I can convince you,"

Considering her panties were on the floor a minute later, Serenity agreed.

* * *

The coronation was easier than she thought it would be. Thousands of people watched from the audience and billions more from the television as Ward was crowned King, and then as Serenity was crowned King.

They were crowned co-rulers, as they were both strong leaders who were forces of good. Serenity prayed an ancient Lunarian prayer of peace as she accepted the burden of the heavy crown placed upon her head by Helios. He spoke in Lunarian, blessing her husband, then her for a long rule and for peace in her time. She could feel the handmaidens behind her, draping a long, white fur cape on her back. She looked at her husband, and together they slowly stood and took their staffs from pillows held by the handmaidens of Helios's temple. In the background she was sure she could hear tens of soft bells, Lunarian bells made of crystal and Lunarian platinum that made a soft whisper of hope in her ears.

She walked up the white crystal stairs before her towards the two thrones, which were made of the same crystal material as the palace, in a pure white gown with her right hand holding her staff. It was tall, at least six and a half feet, and she lifted it into the air, allowing her crystal to come forth. Beside her she felt Ward do the same thing. Together the crystals embed the entire hall in a warm, soft light.

The audience was moved. This white light had saved them, had brought many of them back from the dead. They basked in its eternal warmth and watched in hope and reverence as Serenity and Ward spoke in perfect unison the words that would seal their crowning in the eyes of the ancient Lunarian faith for eons to come.

"E môr henion I dhu. El eria e môr I 'lir en êl luitha 'uren. Sinome maruvan ar Hildinyar tenn' Ambar-metta."

As soon as the words left their lips, the music began. Hundreds of drums and a lone guitar started in a fast tempo beat to begin the celebration song, then more guitars the violins and the piano, and then a choir and finally Mina.

Thunderous applause could be heard in the hall, with others cheering, celebrating and crying in the streets. They were saved. Thus began the new world order. There would be peace, happiness, hope. And there would never be hate or fear again.

Long may she Reign.

* * *

How was it? Everything you expected? Did you like all the in-depth possible head-cannon at the end? I was originally going to post that as an outtake, but then realized it actually fit in the story. This story is now officially complete! I have no plans to add another epilogue, but I don't have plans not to either. I suggest keeping this story on alert because I do have a lot of different outtakes that I wrote and deleted from the story. I may upload them as chapters in the future. Thank you to all the readers of this story! This is the first, and only story of its kind on Fanfiction and I'm very proud that I was able to write something that is new and different than anything else. Much love to my best friend Alison, who has been uploading this story for me since fanfiction has been having issues with uploading.

If you like my writing style, check out some of my other stories! My other WIP is Young & Beautiful. 


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